The Sole Survivor
by wiltt003
Summary: This follows the story of the sole survivor of one of the Ark Stations as she learns the ways of Earth alone until finding other survivors. After being alone for so long, how could she possibly learn to play well with others again. With the end of the world nearing, it's time for all to prove their worth, including The 100. (M for sex, alcohol etc). I own nothing but my characters.
1. Chapter 1

This is the story of how the sole survivor of one of the Ark stations find her way through the maddening world alone until she finds her people.

 **So this is Chapter One of something that randomly came to me this afternoon. Hopefully you'll get the gist of things in this chapter but if not then just say and I'll iron things out in the next one or two.**

Looting was one of the few things that River truly hated. Stealing was one thing, but stealing from the dead was just that step too far for her. However, in the only surviving piece of the fallen Ark Station, sat the only survivor of the wreck, surrounded by the belongings of the dead. She had long since gotten over doing what made her uncomfortable and was, in that moment, skinning the last of three rabbits that she'd caught with a knife that she'd taken from a dead man.

River was still figuring out the whole survival thing, but she seemed to do well as a hunter and had thankfully landed quite literally in a body of water. The water had rendered the Station useless when they had landed, meaning that contacting Alpha Station wasn't going to happen. A week of panic later and she was the only one alive. Most had died in the initial fall, though some had fallen to exposure or ingesting something that certainly wasn't food.

And so she was alone.

When it had been announced that everyone was going to Earth, the nineteen year old had, despite the circumstances, been struck with child-like excitement. She had gathered her most prized posessions in her backpack, not caring for her clothes in favour of packing her books and a few childhood pieces that were nothing but sentimental value.

The first second of impact with the ground killed her father. His head opened like a melon onto her mother's shoulder who screamed until a tree impaled her stomach, silencing her with her eyes wide open. River's boyfriend was among the survivors, though not for long as a piece of the Station fell and crushed him when he tried to pull it of so to avoid it falling on anyone. Even she saw the irony there.

Her largest food source since the death of the others and the end of rations had become fish. The lake that they'd landed it was absolutely packed full to the brim with huge fish, many were larger than River's arm. She opted not to bathe in said lake as she didn't want to ever scrub something bad into both her water and food source, so she usually took water from there and washed herself in a small ditch that she'd dug with her hands, letting the dip dry in the sun or the water would soak into the earth after some time.

Over the course of the two months and eighteen days that she'd been on Earth, River had managed to slowly but surely shovel and carry enough dirt over to the Station to make a floor all the way around it that was about two feet wide. It had taken her a while but she was sick of having to take her shoes off just to leave only to put them back on the other side of the lake.

One of the first things that she learned to do was to swim, shortly following having leaned how to start a fire, to fish and to boil her water clean. Thankfully the water was good to drink all the same, but every so often she boiled some just in case. She knew that if it wasn't safe then she'd already be dead but she couldn't help it sometimes.

Done with the clothes that she was moving away from the leak that had just sprouted from a lower part of one of the walls, River stood and set about finding something to plug the wall with. She wasn't too concerned since it wasn't where she slept and definitely wasn't where she used as a bathroom, she considered using dirt, having heard of a mud hut, but she opted for a small rubber ball that had been brought down by an optimistic child that was long since dead. It only took a little push and the thrust of a palm to keep it in place, stopping the leak.

River ran a hand through her long chestnut hair, annoyed by the water covering the floor. It may not have been a concern but it was still an annoyance.

She left it, however, going back to the rabbits that she had been skinning, finishing them off and setting the pelts to one side. She planned to fashion some sort of gloves from them, knowing that Winter was bound to approach soon and she would need to keep warm.

Having seen some of the natives of the lands, who thankfully hadn't seen her despite having killed three of her people, River had seen the way they wore the animal hides and bones and so had made some similar items for herself. She had three boar skins that had become both a blanket and a cloak depending on what she was doing, knives crafted from bones, spears with pieces of boar spine and ribs, she even managed to sucessfully dry some of the animals' intestines and cut two strips into a bow string. It wasn't as strong as a real bow but so far it had served her well. As well as this, she had used the other pieces of bones to craft snares in the nearby woods and in the lake, meaning that her dinner usually caught itself.

By the time she was done with the rabbits and had mopped most of the water from the Station's floor it was growing darker.

She worked until night truly fell, closing the Station's doors that she had fixed alone in order to provide herself with some protection and privacy while she slept. Once she had checked that her trip wire was in place to wake her silently if anyone entered before she disarmed it, she went to the small storage room that was just hanging onto the main part of the Station and settled into the nest of blankets that she had there. She found the t-shirt and boxer shorts that she slept in every night that had belonged to boyfriend that had died such an ironic death and pulled them both on. She washed the underwear every couple days but still hadn't brought herself to wash any of the shirts that he had brought to the ground despite no longer being able to smell him over her own scent. She gently thumbed the silver necklace that housed a three inch tall silver cross, both of which had been his and had been passed through his family and finally to her, lying in the blanket nest and promtly falling asleep.

Four hours. That was it. She had slept four hours before the small glass of water turned and spilled all over her face. She woke with a start at that, looking up to the small ledge that it had previously stood proudly on, not once having tipped before now. She gently pulled the cord that had coiled around it and out of the room which, to her horror, fell slack.

Someone was inside.

 **Alright, so I know the first chapter is really short but I guess I wanna know first of all if anyone would be interested in this carrying on, if the length is way too short of just a little too short and just how people feel about this I guess.**

 **This is the second or third The 100 fic that I've started but it's the first one that I'm posting and although I'm caught up to the show, I'm yet to read the books and my grasp on the world of the show isn't perfect so please bear with me and feel free to please point out any errors be it grammar or something wrong like names or places.**

 **Hopefully someone out there will enjoy this! Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Despite the fact that she had been preparing for this day, she still had a moment of panic in which she couldn't possibly move. Her breath caught thick in her throat, choking her for just a second before she remembered to breathe again, moving without a sound as she pushed the loose wall tile aide that was behind the shelving which provided walls for her blanket nest.

With that pushed aside, she slunk inside the small gap that lay between walls. Its floor was covered in a thin lining of water, so she stayed on her bare heels, dragging her knife belt through along with her cloak and a few items of clothing before gently sliding the wall back down to cover her tracks. Whoever was in there would sadly have access to the rest of her things, but she could easily strike with one of her knives if she had to.

She listened intently, hearing the loud thudding of careless feet as the cracked walls lit up with light from what she presumed was a torch. She could hear muffled voices though the walls, they were clearly speaking English but she couldn't make out their words until the door to her nest/closet was swung open.

From then, she held her breath as much as she could, breathing only once ever ten to twenty seconds as quietly as she could. "What the?" Whoever was in there was very clearly looking at her bed which was ever so obviously slept in. She just hoped that they didn't touch it to feel it was still so very warm. "Eyes sharp, we might have someone." The deep voice spoke again, obviously male. The air of authority was clear too, though she didn't know the voice.

"Might or do?" Came another voice, this one female and impatient. Now that the door was open, River could hear the other voices much more clearly. It had been so long since she'd spoken to another person though, she wasn't sure she'd recognise someone's voice even if she knew them.

She heard the shrugging of heavy clothes followed by a sigh. "Looks slept in. Maybe it's been empty for a while-"

"There's fresh meat here." The female voice announced.

River's insides chilled. She didn't care if they took her food or her other clothing, she could always find or make more, but her map was out there and it was incredibly close to the meat. She needed that map. It was the only notebook that had been on the whole Station and she was down to the last pencil. She couldn't simply find another map, not one with the annotations that she needed.

"How fresh?" Asked a third female voice.

"Feels a few hours old at best. It's cold in here though, could be a day."

"Okay, sort through everything. We might be able to use some of it back in Arkadia."

"Someone might be coming back to all of this." The male voice reasoned, the three of them clearly standing either in or close by River's nest.

Another shrug of heavy clothing. "We came in a rover, it's not like they won't be able to follow us back if they want their stuff. In case you haven't noticed, our tracks are enormous and obvious as hell."

They all spoke some more, a few other voices getting into the mix. River could hear as they exited her room, informing the rest of their group that they would look for anything useful and take what they needed. She found a small crack in one of the walls and pressed her face to it, watching through the minimal hole provided.

The sight shocked her.

Three men and four women. Two of them men were dressed like typical grounders in their furs and bones, but the other one was dressed in a uniform. A guard's uniform. ' _Great,_ ' River though, _'they've killed the guards. Guards that had guns.'_ The women were in similar attire, one wearing generic Ark clothes, one wearing a guard's uniform and the other two, a blonde and a brunette, wearing grounder clothing complete with braided hair.

River watched as they rifled around her home, an angry line on her face. She certainly considered putting her new "Earth Skills" to the test and killing them all, though she could tell that all of the grounders had swords and the guards all had hand guns. She would either have to wait them out or out run them and pray that they didn't know the surrounding land like she did.

Having dragged in just the right amount of clothing, River quickly but quietly dressed, careful not to lean too hard against the walls and not to stand too tall in fear of hitting her head. She strapped her knife belt on and picked up one of the two staffs that she had made, holding a boar's tusk at its end like a jewel.

She used her calloused fingertips to raise the wall panel, fear pumping her blood and warming her through. All it would take was one noise and she would die trying to climb out of a hole in a wall. She'd probably be put back in their too and be left to rot.

It took her about thirty seconds to lift the panel, climb through it and slowly close it again, by which time she stood at her full height of five foot seven, wishing she was more intimidating than she was despite her spear in one hand and her other hand holding onto one of her knives, ready to pull it out and launch it should she have to.

"Rae, why don't you check around for anything you can use. I know it's all in the water but something might be salvagable. Nyko, you and I can look for medicines, everyone else either stand guard or root around." The blonde grounder spoke with authority and the others did exactly as she said.

Not wanting to be stuck with all of them for too long, River nimbly fished her map containing book and pencil from the ground along with a small hatchet that she had been trying to make. It looked much more like a hammer but she didn't care, slipping it into her belt all the same with her book tucked into the waistline of her pants.

She wasn't really sure how to go about this. Did she burst out? Did she try to sneak? She really didn't know. Perhaps there was some form of ettiquette that she didn't know about when it came to fleeing your home.

That choice, however, was taken from her when the door creaked and the brunette grounder noticed her.

 _'Shit.'_ She cursed quickly, mentally preparing herself before she bolted, keeping her stance low and poweful. She used a quick scare tactic of force and powered into the man in a guard's uniform. She took him straight to the floor and was shooting straight back to her feet once more, running while he yelled and the other grounder took a swing at her. She dodged with a quick duck, batting the girl hard with her staff, never stopping running.

Adrenaline coursed through her as she ran, her muscles alight with fire. She didn't stop as she surged into the water, taking the quickest route to shore only to be blinded by two enormous lights. She reared back for just a second, but that was enough, a shot ringing out and something ripping through her shoulder.

This time it was her that was dragged to the floor. Straight into the water.

She'd never been shot before and by god it hurt. It _really_ hurt.

Pain was exploding in her chest as a constant force as she picked herself up, her entire front soaked and her hair falling in a slick curtain over her face. She gasped in pain, breathing as deeply as she could, panic having its hold on her.

Another shot rang out, though she didn't hear this one. Nor did she feel it. She simply fell again, this time confused by the force and oblivious to the pain. She managed to get up much more easily this time, staff in hand, springing heavily and clumsily into the trees.

Confused, in pain, scared, diorientated, she ran in the general direction that she wanted, hearing yet another shot, thankful that this one didn't hit her already torn right shoulder. The lake sat at the top of a cliff that was surely a hunderd feet or more to the ground. At the bottom of said cliff was another lake, this one was vast and deep and she suspected that it had underwater caves. No, she prayed it did.

She was becoming more sentient as she reached the edge, able to hear the people behind her screaming at one another and at her, the roaring of an engine, the firing of a gun.

So she leapt.

 **So this chapter's a little longer and hopefully was alright. I hope you guys are fond of River, I know I'm not doing a great job with her but I swear right now that I'll try to bring her to life and make her entertaining and dangerous.**

 **As before, please feel free to point out my mistakes or to just tell me how you're feeling about it. If anyone has any ideas then feel free to throw them at me, though I have a genaral idea of where this is all going in the long run to I hope you're entertained until then. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So this is the third chapter of The Sole Survivor and I've sort of just come to the conclusion that since I'm enjoying writing this, I'll just carry on with it rather than doing the whole "ten reviews to get the next chapter" kind of deal, though I would love to hear what anyone has to say. Also, please don't be afraid to call me out on my spelling and my grammar, I slip up frequently with  
**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Pain radiated through her shoulder and chest with every movement that she made. She still wasn't a strong swimmer but had managed to grab onto a rock with one arm, holding herself in place, simply thankful that she was right: the lake beneath her lake was both deep and had caves that ate away at the ground beneath her lake.

She'd waited a good hour, freezing and in pain, before the lights above and whatever housed the engine left, though the shouting didn't stop immediately. From so far down, she could no longer make out what was being said, but she waited for the noises to cease all the same before she grabbed onto what she could and dragged herself from the lake, lying on her back and heaving each breath in one at a time.

For an awfully long moment, she considered dying. Right there. Right then. She considered just staying there and letting herself bleed to death. She knew from watching it happen that it would become painless once she'd lost enough blood, apparently some people even felt warm. God, what she'd give to be warm.

That was all it was though. A moment. Just one in millions.

So she stood.

She cursed whoever had shot her multiple times as she used her staff to drag herself to her feet. There was only the light of the moon to illuminate her way, but the way it bounced on the lake was stunning. She gritted her teeth and followed the cliff face until it stopped being so tedious looking, probably having been at least half a mile of her bleeding and cursing, by which time she'd taken off her cloak and belt, using the belt to bind the cloak over her wounds in a weak attempt to temporarily stop the bleeding.

It was a rather odd sensation. The whole ordeal was. Her wounds, thankfully neither of which still housed bullets, were hot to the touch, yet the rest of her felt like a popsicle. She'd never had a popsicle but she knew from books that they were incredibly cold and were eaten when freezing. She didn't see why anyone would want to eat what seemed to be flavoured ice, but she wouldn't pass judgement until she had tried a popsicle herself.

The chill was eating away at her whole body by the time she all but fell into the shallow water of her lake, less than twenty feet from the Station. She didn't know if it was stupid of her to return so soon, especially since she was planning on lighting a fire for warmth, but she knew that she wanted to last the night and that wouldn't happen without a fire, some fresh water, some food and some sort of medical attendance for her shoulder.

She silently cursed herself for bleeding in her water source, but she also couldn't seem to care, taking enormous mouthfuls before she stood again and hobbled shakily to the Station's wide open door.

 _'This could very easily be a trap.'_ She reasoned with herself, and of course it could have been. She wasn't necessary stupid, at least not all the time, but she was cold, she was hungry, she was in pain.

With that in mind, she loudly stepped through the doorway, her staff thudding dully into the floor with each step, supporting her. The main room was empty aside for some muddy boot prints and a little splash of blood. Had they really fought over what little had? _'Fucking savages.'_

She cleared the rooms one by one, breathing a sigh of relief when she found the whole place empty. The last place she'd checked a large room that had once been used for teaching, now only having three walls and half a ceiling, backed onto the main room. She undid her pants as she walked back into the Station's main room, thankful to see that her things seemed largely untouched as far as she could tell.

Her pants had just been kicked off with sloppy legs when she heard a slight crunch. She had a bone-knife between her teeth that had fallen from the belt. Quickly grabbing her book of maps and whatnot from the floor, she stuffed it up her shirt, the sodden material holding it tightly against her abdomen.

The knife now in her left hand, her right holding itself somewhat limply in front of her damaged shoulder. She pulled on her best game face, having spun to face the noise.

Much to her horror, in walked the female grounders, the blonde and the brunette, both with furs, leathers and blades. The brunette even had war paint on, setting an uneasy feeling in River's stomach. She couldn't let them take her alive.

Baring that thought in mind, she dropped the cloak, aware of how very bare and freezing her legs were when it hit the floor.

"Ai laik Octavia kom Skaikru-" The brunette started, only eliciting a chuckle from River. The girl looked taken aback, perhaps even offended.

"I don't know what the hell that means." River growled, thumbing her knife very obviously. "I know you speak my language. So, listen, I'm gonna gut you if you come near me." She knew she wasn't very menacing in her current state. Covered in her own blood, wearing boxer shorts on her legs an nothing else, woozy from blood loss.

The blonde was eyeing her shoulder, then her legs. "You don't look like you could even make it over to us, let alone beat us in combat." She told River matter-of-factly, raising a somewhat challenging brow. "We're not here to hurt you though, we just want what belongs to our people."

"Your people?" River scoffed, her grip tightening. "This is the grave-site of my people, not yours. This shit? It's mine, not for your kind, you damn savages."

"I say we kill her now." The brunette grumbled, anger evident on her face.

"That's the only way you'll get my stuff. Hear me, Grounder?"

Something seemed to click in the blonde. She looked over herself and the brunette quickly before stepping towards River with a slight smile, getting an angry swipe of a knife in return as a warning. "You think we're grounders, don't you?" She asked, crouching when River's over-movement took her down to her hands and knees with a pained cry. "We're not grounders and I don't think that you are either."

"Lies." River spat, trying to drag herself to her feet a final time only to fall smack into the floor again, this time hitting her head, blood trickling softly from just above her eye.

She tried to fight the blonde off with her good arm only to be subdued like a child, promptly succumbing to her injuries and passing out. She didn't even have the strength to pray that she would die before they had a chance to torture her.

* * *

 **I have a general direction for this to go in but if anyone has any specific things that they want to see, feel free to say and I'll see about fitting things in. If not, then I hope someone's enjoying this.**

 **Have a great day!**


	4. Chapter 4

When she woke, the first thing that she noticed was that she was no longer wearing the same clothes. She was clean and had very clearly been bathed while unconscious. The second thing she noticed was that she was strapped down to a medical bed. The third thing that she noticed was that her clothes were neatly folded beside her on a small chair. Had they been washed? Had they washed his scent away for good?

The room was sterile and very obviously not belonging to the savages. But where was she? Part of her felt like she recognised the place, it felt so familiar, almost like the Ark. Surely not?

She made to sit, seemingly having forgotten about the heavy restraints holding her down. Her efforts were fruitless, resulting in nothing but making the heart monitor beside her bleep a little louder with the slight panic of being restrained.

Just as she began to comtemplate exactly how to go about getting out of her situation, the decision as to whether or not to shout for attention was taken from her when an incredibly familiar face entered the large, white room, followed by another. Marcus Kane and Abby Griffin.

River couldn't help it, she gawked. She was astounded. "You're alive?" She questionned, amazed. Her vouce came out roughly, full of what sounded like gravel caught in her throat. They seemed to understand her though, both smiling kindly.

Kane smiled kindly. River internally scoffed. The man that had floated her grandmother had the audacity to smile. What the hell was he smiling about?

Sure, she was shocked and pleased that she wasn't the only survivor of the Ark, but him? What in hell had this piece of crap done to keep his hide alive? He clearly still only saw himself as number one. Though, when he glanced at the woman beside him, River questionned whether the ground may have changed him. There seemed to be something between them, though all there was between them on the Ark was anger. Annoyance. Hatred.

"We're alive." Doctor Griffin confirmed with a nod and a gentle smile as they reached her bedside "And so are you." She added, this time a note of wonder to her voice. "You're lucky. With the amount of blood you'd lost, I'm surprised that even Clarke's speedy driving got you here in time. Yet here you are, a survivor."

Survivor.

That word often weighed heavily on River's heart. She often wondered if it was worth surviving when everyone she had ever loved was dead. If it was worth being the last one. Yet there she was and there they were, other survivors. She was at a loss for words.

"Yeah." She muttered lamely, relaxing into her restraints.

It seemed that only then were they acknowledged. By Kane. "I hope you're not planning on giving us reason to keep these on?" He asked him, his rough beard and tired eyes telling River all that she needed to know. He most definitely had changed. To what degree, she didn't know. But he'd changed.

She shook her head, still unable to find words other than, "Thank you." as he undid the straps that held her in place, letting them fall away from the bed.

It took her a moment of looking around with Doctor Griffin helped her right arm out of her shirt, pulling it up to her chin to inspect the wound before she found the words she was after. "What is this place?" She asked, trying not to wince when the doctor probed a little too hard.

The two council members, one of whom now wore a Chancellor's pin, shared a look and a small smile before Kane replied.

"This is Arkadia." He told her, his smile reminding her momentarily of her father. "It's hope." He added, seemingly relieved at his own words.

Hope.

That was a concept that River understood. Sometimes, all you needed was hope to keep you moving. Hope that you could brave a storm. Hope that you could swim to shore. Hope that you weren't the last survivor.

"Would you like to see it?" Abby asked once she was done with River's wound.

"See what?" River questionned, puzzled. The place was clearly built from the Ark, what was there to see?

Without an answer, Marcus and Abby helped the teen from her bed, one of them standing either side of her and offering support as they slowly but surely walked her from the medical wing. There were people everywhere. Guards, citizens, grounders. Everyone seemed to just be going about their business _together_ , peacefully.

River was absolutely gobsmacked.

"What the-?" River's question was cut short when they left the corridors of the Ark and suddenly they were bathed in sunlight. It was beautiful.

There were crops. Animals. People. Clothes. Cars. Computers. Trees. Everything that they had all dreamed of.

"This is incredible." River breathed as they passed a small pen made of wood that housed three animals. "Pigs." She noted, awed. "These are pigs!" She exclaimed with childlike joy, quelling her embarrassment at people turning to watch her, amused. She didn't care about them. There were pigs there, real pigs. And chickens! And was that a cow? By God, it was a cow!

"How?" She breathed, holding onto them both a little tighter. Sure, she'd hunted boar, she'd hunted rabbits and she'd even taken down something that she learned was called an ox, but never had she dreamt of keeping them. Were they pets? Were they for food? For milk? For what?

"By now, I'm sure that you already know that we weren't the only ones to survive what happened all those years ago." Kane started, smiling down at the girl between the two adults. He couldn't imagine what she had possibly been through that had crealy taken so many, but he knew that she was safe now. "The grounders. They're not as uncivilised as we once thought. There are some, a few, who are just as bad. Possibly worse. But, as is with every race, there are both good and bad, two sides of the same coin."

He went on to tell her everything. He and Abby told her of a place name Polis, a brave leader named Lexa and the way that young love had helped to bridge the gap between Skaikru and the grounders.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, so I'm trying to update every Friday in order to have some sense of continuity but it's only Chapter Five and it's currently Sunday morning so I'm sorry about that. I hope there are a couple of people out there enjoying this and that everyone has a great Sunday!**

* * *

"You shot me." River stated to the man before her. Bellamy Blake.

He, to be given his due, looked somewhat ashamed. "You tackled me." He countered weakly, running a hand through his black hair.

"You shot me." She reminded him again. "Twice." She added, raising a brow.

"I'm sorry." He offered with a slight shrug.

That was all she would get and she knew it. She shrugged. "I'm not."

According to Marcus and Abby, River needed to meet everyone. Everyone of importance anyway. Apparently the grounders that had saved her, who turned out not to be grounders at all, were out scavanging and were both anxious to meet her on their return. River doubted that but she thought that the sentiment was nice all the same.

"I know what you're after." She told Abby once she'd met "everyone", which included Raven Reyes, Bellamy Blake, Miller Junior and Senior, Jackson, Indra who was a grounder, Jaha who was now in some odd state between prisoner and respected voice of something. Apparently he'd been the one to begin distributing the "A.L.I.E chips" that had nearly been the enslavement of everyone. River could understand why people were pissed at him. Hell, she hadn't even known about the whole thing and she was pissed at him.

Abby raised a brow. "You know what I'm after?" She questionned the teen, seeing parts of Clarke in the girl before her.

River nodded in turn. "You made a point of telling me that my home has been left untouched." She told the older woman, continuing when she gained a nod. "You want to pull it apart, see if Raven can use anything from it."

Abby had the good grace to look a little sheepish, though her tone told River that it was merely business. "You've seen how many people we have here." She told River as Kane approached them both, three bowls of something in his hands. He placed one in front of each of them as he sat, the table gaining looks along with a bold Raven Reyes and a shy Monty something. "We need whatever we can take from your station, and from what I can tell, you're not using anything that's there-"

"Hold your horses, Doc." River grumbled, thinking of her Station. Did she want to lose any of it? No. But she also didn't want to lose all of it, so she'd give them what they wanted in return for her freedom. "You can strip it." She told the table, seeing excitement in Reyes's eyes. "I want my little room to be left alone though. You can take anything you want, but I want that room to be left alone."

"That depend on what in that room." Raven stated with a shrug.

"My bed." River growled. "And some shelves that work as a frame. They also hide something valuable to me."

"We might need the shelves." Kane admitted carefully.

"Fine." River huffed. "Then I keep the mechanics. All of them."

"For some shelves?" Raven scoffed, eyes wide open.

River shrugged. "I like my shelves."

"No way-"

"You can keep the shelves." Abby stated, shooting a pointed glance at Raven. "You can be there when we look the place over. Tell what we can take and what you need to keep." River didn't miss the use of the word need. It wasnt down to what she _wanted_ to keep, it was what she _needed_ to keep. Did she need the shelves? No, but she liked them.

So it was settled, she would keep her shelves.

River was wrapped up in the happiness of her shelves not going anywhere, that she almost didn't hear the lud creaking of the swinging gates. Almost.

She was still with Abby and Kane, Raven and Monty having rushed off back to their electrical room, excitedly discussing what they may be able to salvage. River was astounded at how soft Kane was. She remembered the man that floated her boyfriend's mother, but this wasn't him. He really had truly changed. She'd harboured quite a lot of hatred for him on the Ark, but when she'd seen him holding his dying mother, she couldn't possibly have imagined what that had felt like. Now she knew. She knew that deaths either softened or hardened people. They'd softened him and hardened her, that much she was sure of.

"Clarke's back." Abby breathed, clearly relieved. River followed her line of sight as the older woman stood to where two women were walking through the gates of Arkadia. Clarke and Octavia, the two grounders that weren't actually grounders.

Even in that moment River saw them as grounders. They sure looked like it. Dirty, bloody, though that was what most of the Ark people looked like lately, too.

"Come on." Kane spoke gently, offering River a hand to get to her feet. She didn't take it, but she smiled carefully at him, letting him know it was just that she didn't need the help.

Abby sped off, leaving River to walk with Kane towards the two women as the gates rolled shut, locking behind them. River noticed Abby say something to the two of them, their eyes immediately flitting up to where she was approaching. Clarke was the blonde and Octavia was the brunette.

Neither of them smiled at her, nor did they offer her any form of greeting. Octavia even went so far as to shoot her something akin to a glare which, oddly enough, amused River greatly.

Having never ridden in a Rover before, at least not while conscious, River was impressed by the car to say the least. She showed as such with a low whistle of approval when she was taken over to it not ten minutes after meeting Clarke and Octavia at the gates where they both reported their findings, which were little to none.

Something else that amused River was timing. The sheer timing of it all. Of course the Ark had to fail a matter of months before the nuclear reactors of the world broke down. It was just their luck. That was almost as ironic as the loss of her poor boyfriend being squashed by the very door he was trying to stop from falling on people. She figured he still took the prize for most ironic death at that moment, but she figured that the irony of it all would grow as time passed. She also learned that, at the current time, there was no plan to save them.

"So we're all fucked?" River snorted from the passenger seat of the Rover. Clarke was driving with Kane, Monty and someone called Jasper in the back, havin left Raven and Abby to deal with anything back at camp while Octavia rode a horse beside them; she seemed to be the real deal as far as converting to the grounders went. Though it made sense to River, given that apparently her boyfriend had been buchered by Pike, put on his knees and shot like an animal for slaughter.

River was glad she hadn't been there to meet Pike as anything other than a teacher from the Ark.

"Something like that." Clarke admitted with a shrug, keeping her eyes forward

No one spoke again until they reached River's lake, immediately putting her at ease. She couldn't help but grin at being back, forcing her way from the car and over to the edge of the lake before the others had even thought about killing the engine.

She could possibly have put into words how much more comfortable she was here, alone. Granted, she wasn't currently alone, but once they'd taken what they wanted, she would be. So, to help the process along, she untied the boots that had been given to her, yanking them off along with her socks, then rolling the legs of her pants up to her knees.

Without a second thought, she waded into the water, smiling as the fish, much too cramped in the lake, weaved between her legs as they shot past.

The others followed suit, following the injured survivor across the lake to where the Ark's Station stood proudly in it, half bent into the water with the other half bending upwards to the sky. At the very top was a cloth bag that River made it clear was to be untouched as it was the personal affects of the Station's dead, including her boyfriend's pocket watch. Kane easily agreed to leaving it alone, saying only that if Arkadia's residents had loved ones from this fallen Station that they could ask whether or not a specific item was in there to be returned to them. River agreed to that. It was fair.

"You've really been here all this time?" Kane questionned when they reached the Station, smiling as River wiped her feet dry on a spare towel of sorts before donning her socks and shoes again, motioning for the others to do the same.

She nodded in reply as she stepped through the door. Finally home. She pulled the small book from the hem of her pants, thankful that it had been returned to her by Abby before she had driven off along with her pencil. "I've mapped a little of the surrounding area but stopped venturing out for a while when more Grounders came through. It's easy enough to just stay holed up inside for a few weeks at a time if I have to."

River had most definitely had to adapt to survive, but she wouldn't by any means want to brag about it.

"What did you do with them all?" Monty croaked, clearly referring to the bodies of the lost Arkers.

Shrugging as if it didn't matter much to her, River nodded to an ash pile. "Tried burying them but when folk started dropping like flied, I just didn't have enough hours in the day before they started to stink. I burned 'em all a little way up the hillside. Said a few words for them and whatnot." Despite her shrug, River knew just how obvious it probably was that she was bothered. She had seen death take everyone from around her, then she'd had to both bury and burn them while trying to survive along not a mile away. In retrospect, she should have put the back work in and dragged the bodies back and in the other direction when she noticed the way the wind was going. Her home had smelled of burning death for two weeks.

A blood stain was still on her floor when they all stepped in, evidence of her will to survive. "So, uh, go wild. Take what you need."

"Just not your shelves?" Kane teased gently, earning a small chuckle.

"Yeah, just not my shelves."

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 **Hopefully that was alright. If anyone has any questions or anything to say then feel free to message me or leave it in the reviews section. Hopefully my grasp of the The 100's world is getting a little better because I'm in the process of writing a couple of other little bits FanFiction-wise but I apologise again if I've gotten anything wrong, but feel free to point it out so I don't do it again. Have a great day!**


	6. Chapter 6

**We're here at Chapter Six and thankfully I'm not late updating this time. Hopefully everyone likes this chapter, though I'm unsure about my dialogue, I don't want to get any beloved characters wrong so I'll admit to avoiding dialogue a little just while I figure out how to grip it properly. Anyway, happy reading!**

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 _Savages. Absolute fucking savages._ River shook her head, her good arm holding her bad one against her chest as she watched them drive off, leaving only her and the shell of her home. They had stripped it absolutely bare, leaving her with little more than the shelves she demanded.

Now, River had survived this long on her own, but she had to admit that having them around had helped her. She knew now about this entire community that would welcome her with open arms, but did she want to go to them? She had no idea.

On her own, she made her own rules. She stayed awake as late as she wanted and slept in as long as she wanted purely because she could. She had no job, no shifts to attend. She created minimal mess and waste, not to mention needing much less food sourced than such a large camp surely would. Plus, she had her own source of food right outside her door if she wasn't sick of fish. However, she couldn't hep but feel a little empty as she watched the Rover pull away. She even found herself smiling when Kane said that they would return for the rest with a trailer. She wanted to see them again even if they weren't there for her.

See, it was slightly complicated. Did River want someone to proclaim their love for her and say that they'd protect her? No. Did she want someone to stay with her if she chose not to move to Arkadia? No. But, did she want at least some human interaction to ensure she never ended up talking to the fish? Maybe. Yes.

Perhaps all she wanted was something as simple as someone to sit next to while she sharpened her knives. Someone to laugh with every once in a while, even cynical laughter about how terrible the world looked. Maybe someone that would help her every so often, even when she didn't need it.

Sighing, she grabbed an old shirt that had long since been used for anything other than bathing and dunked it into the lake's pleasantly cold water, deciding that while ever she was still in the Station, she would at least make sure that her blood wasn't decorating the floor. So she set to work, settlign into a rythm of mopping the red patch, ringing the red water into a small bucked, then going back for more clean water and mopping again. She carried on until the bloody water bucket was full, forcing herself to trek all the way to the cliff face that she'd vaulted over not so long ago, tipping the contents down over the ledge. She didn't want to polute her own water and food more than she had to but down there didn't matter too much to her.

Soaked with sweat under noon's high sun, River decided that wearing all of her furs was excessive. She'd only really put them all on when the others were scavanging around in order to make sure they weren't taken from her, but now she was alone.

Thankful for the privacy in which she didn't need to feign strength, tired out of her mind and slightly out of breath, she let herself thud to the floor once inside the safety of the Station. When she was down, she immediately began stripping herself of her layers, leaving herself in nothing but her underwear, a sports bra that had seen better days and her belt of bone knives. She made a quick mental note to add a pocket onto it to house her notebook in given that it was one of the things that kept her alive and keeping it on her person was a wise idea.

She spent a good long while sitting on the floor. With time to stop and think, she realised just how much her entire body ached. Apparently being shot, going for a dive and climbing back home could really take it out of a girl.

During her rest, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to think of him. The man that she had loved so dearly who was taken so cruelly. It hurt like hell. Sure, every so often she would remind herself of just how ironic his death had been, laughing to herself, too, but even that wasn't real laughter. She wasn't amused by the fact that his kindness had killed him. No. She was amused that he of all people, the kindest of all men, had died right before her eyes while she, a woman who thought herself nothing without him, lived on. She found herself glad that he'd died so soon. He would have been hardened by this world just as she had been. It would have taken that innocent smile from him along with the adorable dimple that appeared only on his left cheek. It would have taken the childish love in his heart for even the most deadly things and by god it would have taken the beaty from his eye and she couldn't have handled that.

"Matt," She grumbled, chuckling, humourless. "You really were the best of us." She decided, surely an objective truth, finally letting herself sleep. Sleep was so much nicer than the groggy unconsciousness that the past couple of days had held for her, so she welcomed it with open arms, not worrying about how vulnerable she was lying there.

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 _"River?" Matt's voice was gentle yet assertive, just as it always had been. She opened her eyes and there he was, his blonde mop hanging from his head above her own from her he hovered over her._

 _"Matt?" She replied, smirking as she always did. "What's up?" She reached up and ran a hand through his hair, not a single scar on her seemingly perfect arm._

 _He sighed and lowered himself, his whole body of lean muscle gently perched on top of her with his arms either side of her head. "Do you really think we're going to Earth?" He asked her, a sheepish blush on his face for some reason. She presumed it was due to their state of undress._

 _Raising a brow, she continued to run her fingers through his hair as he laid his head on her bare chest, his breaths falling softly onto the side of her neck. "What do you mean?" She uttered, confused. They'd both heard the same announcements, what was there to doubt? "Of course we're going. We're going to the ground. We'll meet up with The 100, we'll carve out our ow patch of land and everyone will have homes. Real homes built with brick-"_

 _"Bricks?" He scoffed playfully. "River, I don't think there are just bricks growing from the earth." He laughed, music to her ears. She knew she'd never hear that sound again._

 _Wait, what?_

 _"Sure, no bricks growing, but I'm sure there are some still lying around. We'll have a house. A yard. An automobile. We'll even have one of those animals, what are they again? Dugs?"_

 _"Dogs!" Matt exclaimed, laughing louder this time, his laughter shaking them both._

I'll never hear that again _. She thought darkly to herself before catching herself, what an earth was she thinking?_

 _She felt something on her chest, something damp. Matt didn't drool, that much she knew._

 _Looking down, she felt utter confusion. His nose was bleeding. "Matt-"_

 _"River!" He boomed from his seat._

 _Wait, his seat?_

 _Confused, she looked to his voice only to see her fatherjust in time as a piece of the Station broke away and found home in his head. River couldn't help it, this time she screamed just as loudly as her mother._

 _She didn't remember getting dressed or even making her way to the Station, but she didn't have time for such rationality as there was a huge crash, an enormous thud, a rip, then a tree piercing the wall and her mother. She had lost her parents so very quickly, but for what? For nothing, as was the cruelty of Earth._

 _"River, come on." Surely they'd staying inside with the dead for long enough? But hadn't it only been a second since her parents had died?_

 _She had no idea what was going on anymore, simply following Matt._

 _She followed him just outside to where he knocked his head on the door. "Jeez, someone could kill themself on this thing." He grumbed. She watched as he climbed up onto the side of the Station and gave a tug at the top of the door. It didn't budge. "There are some tools inside, right? I'll see if I can get it off," He began climbing down, jumping the final way before making his way inside and standing in the doorway. "Dale, buddy, come and help me-"_

"Matt!" River's voice echoed through the station as she woke, bolting upright, tears covering her face.

With a few ragged breaths, she grabbed what was nearest to her and flung it angrily against the wall to her left, drawing her knees up to her chest and ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around them and let herself sob into her knee caps.

No matter how hard she tried, how long she live, how tough she became, she would never get over him. She was never get over how unjustly he'd been taken from her before he even got a chance to see all of the beautiful things that she had seen.

She decided that she would give him every single positive experience that Earth had given her if she could. She would take all the bad that could possibly touch him and give him everything that such a sweet man deserved.

If only.

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 **So today I tried to focus just a little on giving River more of a back story, I'm not too sure how it went and possibly if I should have gone deeper. Soon enough my chapters will start getting longer and I'll start aiming for a few thousand words a chapter but at the moment I'm just trying to get a few shorter ones out there before I get into the story a bit more so I hope no one's too bored/unimpressed.**

 **Please feel free to ask me about anything if there's anything that you're unsure about. Have a great day!**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, here's Chapter Seven. It felt kind of short while I was writing it but apparently it's the largest chapter to date so I guess it's time to start fleshing them out a little more. It might take me a little longer to update lately as I've got a few important bits coming up like weddings, parties and whatnot but I'll try to stick to posting every Friday.**

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"Mornin'." River replied to Clarke Griffin's greeting. She had been woken by a series of bangs on her door in the closet and had opened it to find the blonde standing the other side.

The two women -despite the fact that Clarke had only recently turned eighteen, River knew that everything that she'd been through definitely made her a woman rather than a child- turned from the closet and walked into the main area of the Station where River was annoyed to see a huge puddle of muddy water. "Sorry. Jasper wore his boots through the water. He's grabbing a towel to mop it up now."

River waved her off, still feeling groggy.

It had been nearly a week since they had all come to take the rest of what she could spare, but now Kane and Abby had decided that they needed to search the vertically standing part of the Station, something that River had yet to do.

So there they were. Jasper, Miller, Bellamy, Brian and Octavia, the five who had volunteered to go up, though River immediately mentally questioned Jasper's upper body strength, saying nothing though as she would be amused to watch him fall.

"What are you expecting to find?" River asked the younger girl beside her, first getting only a shrug.

"We're not too sure." Clarke answered honestly with a sigh. "Raven thinks there could be some computers in there, maybe some fuel since it hasn't leaked into the water. Mom wonders if there could be some emergency medical kits in there, painkillers if we're lucky, antibiotics if we're more than lucky."

Nodding, River thought about things and knew that whatever was up there could really help the people in Arkadia. She needed to be selfless no matter what it was. After that small realisation, River decided that she didn't even want to know what could be up there. She couldn't miss what she never knew she had. "You guys are gonna be here for a couple of hours, right?" She asked Clarke, watching the younger girl nod, still watching her friends. "Great, I'll go fish. Maybe you guys could think about digging a lake of your own? I'm sure you could take some of these little guys back to breed and fill it up." She was out of the Station before she'd finished talking, speaking more to herself than anyone else.

Still wearing only her sports bra, the last clean pair of Matt's boxers, a pair of questionably clean shorts over the top, her knife belt and nothing more, River stepped straight into the water, walking out until it was just lapping at the bottom of her shorts where thy fell just above her knees. Having not built what she knew was called a fishing rod, she'd set a few small net traps, but she did most of her fishing with her staff since it held a boar's tusk like a spear, or one of her knives if she was feeling lucky.

Today she was feeling lucky.

She ignored all of the chatter that she could hear in a constant stream, focusing only on the sounds of the water. It was relatively still given that it was a lake, but every so often one of the fish, be it the size of her fist or her entire arm, would rise to the surface, splash, then swim off again. It happened when some of them swam too close together and one just ended up being shouldered out. It also made for a perfectly easy target.

After watching the groups of fish for quite some time, she decided to check one of her net traps. It was empty, but she knew that she could use it at that moment in time to scoop up a few stragglers. So she did, landing herself with three the size of her fist, one the length of her forearm and four the size of her whole arm from fingers to shoulder. She considered releasing a few but thought better of it; she didn't know how much her new guests would eat.

Dragging her haul back to the Station, she sat on what was essentially the doorstep with her feet still in the water. She made quick work of putting the fish out of their misery, asking Clarke for one of the buckets that she had to use as a guts bucket. She gutted as many fish as she could be bothered to do, leaving the bones in there so they held together a little more firmly, removing only the guts, the bladder, the gallbladder and the spleen as she knew from experience that they all tasted bitter, and she wondered if she could dry the guts out and use them for anything.

Wanting to avoid attracting predators, River dumped the waste back into the lake, watching the fish swarm to eat what she'd left of their own kind. She'd learned that they relied entirely on bugs, toads, frogs and the flesh of one another to live, hence why they bred so often and filled the pool. They were reproducing enough to carry their species on while also create their own steady food supply. It was sick but River could understand it. It wasn't as if the fish had morals.

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It took just over half an hour for the small group of climbers to get the door of the Station open, another ten minutes for them all to climb up and in, then another three hours for them to search just one room, dropping and lowering things down to River and Clarke as safely as possible. Sadly, or at least River thought it was sad, Jasper's upper body strength was more than she had imagined and he didn't once fall.

She cooked all of the fish on dry land just at the edge of the lake, having a general rule to keep fire away from the Station just in case. Everyone else was hungry by the time they were done, River not so much, but she ate anyway when Clarke informed her that her body needed food to help her heal. She knew that anyway, but it felt official coming from Clarke. She could certainly see why the others all followed her. She seemed to be a natural leader with the right amount of zero shit in her kindness.

"Oh my god." Jasper moaned around his fish, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. "You eat _this_ every single day?" He asked River, clearly some kind of jealous.

Chuckling from where she sat literally in the lake to cool off in the sun while the others were taking their shade in the Station, she nodded. "I got bored of fish after a week." She grumbled. "I try and trap rabbits, squirrels and the sort when I can but my snares are terrible and the fish are easy to catch."

"You got bored of this?" Monty laughed, clearly perplexed.

River knew what he meant. The meat of the fist was beautiful and even before cooking it had an earthy, somewhat smokey flavour. It was beautiful, truly, but eating it for every meal every single day? Dull. So she shrugged again. "It's not so bad if I can find stuff to go with it, you know, just to make it different, but for the past few months I've eaten fish for almost every meal. Every day. Plus, you can only get so many nutrients from one thing."

"That's what's good about Arkadia." Bellamy admitted, nodding thoughtfully.

River agreed with a hum. "It sure does seem nice there." She pondered.

"Well, you know what they say about the grass being greener." Octavia grumbled, taking a large bite from her fish and chewing it purposefully. "Everywhere seems just fine until you realise it's all the same. Stupid people in shitty positions of power. Good people dying-"

"Everyone dies." River countered, knowing sure enough that it would rile the younger girl. However, it was true. "I know it sucks, and I'm sorry that you lost the man that you loved. The world really does seem to be shitty-"

"Don't talk about him." Octavia snapped viciously, not shocking River. Everyone else fell silent. "You didn't know him. You don't know what this feels like. What it feels like to lose _everything_."

"Everything?" River scoffed in disbelief. "You can swing a sword all you want, but with an attitude like that, you're still a kid."

"River." Clarke warned gently. To no avail of course.

"No." River started with a sad chuckle. "Look, Octavia, I've heard about him, about Lincoln, and I am honestly so fucking sorry that you lost him. Everyone's told me that he was a truly good man, and it seems that only the good ones get it. I heard what Pike did, I heard what you did. But you know what? You still have your friends." She snarled, feeling anger bubble in her. "The day I hit the fucking ground, I buried my father, my mother, then my boyfriend of four and a half years. I had to scrub pieces of my father's head from the walls of what is now my home. I had to chop up the tree that impaled my mother, I had to hold my boyfriend up while he died in my arms with a god damn door in his fucking head!"

The silence was cutting, nothing but River's ragged breathing, then the sound of Octavia standing and storming off.

"Way to go." Jasper grumbled, chewing more fish.

"Shut up." Bellamy snapped, glaring daggers at River. "I'll go and sort her-"

"Bellamy."

"Clarke."

"I'll go." River mumbled. "I snapped. Shouldn't have snapped."

She got up before the others could protest, dropping her fish in the water and watching the living fish swarm to it.

Step by step, one foot in front of the other, she followed Octavia to dry land where she was unhitching her horse. "Wait." River said, reaching her and placing a hand out to stop her. She wanted to touch the horse but was scared. It was huge after all.

"Move." Octavia hissed menacingly.

Sighing, River planted herself firmly. "Octavia, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Octavia scoffed, laughing harshly. "Screw you."

"I am." River stated, swallowing nervously. "Look, being on my own for this long, while I like my solitude, I've forgotten how to be around people. I've had all this shit pent up for so long, and I know you don't care; it's not your problem. I know that. But I shouldn't have snapped. I shouldn't have brought him up in the first place-"

"No, you shouldn't have."

River nodded, sighing gently. "Octavia, I really am sorry. About him." She stated, stepping back from the younger girl. "If you ever need to talk to anyone, I'm always here. Literally, I'm always here. I never really go anywhere."

There was a long pause in which neither of them spoke, yet Octavia no longer looked angry. Now she just looked sad. In pain. Hurt. "When does it stop?" She hissed, looking heatedly into River's eyes as if she would find her answers there.

"What does it stop?" River repeated, confused.

"The pain." Octavia sobbed, her face breaking as she released just a single tear. Just the one before she opened the gates and her body began to shudder. River immediately stepped closer and dragged the younger girl into a tight embrace without a second thought, relieved when a pair or thin but strong arms wrapped around her torso, squeezing. It hurt like hell given her current state of health, but she didn't care. "When does it stop hurting?" Octavia cried into River's shoulder, tears soaking her already lake-drenched shirt that she'd thrown on for while they all ate.

Sighing, River stroked the broken warrior's braids with a sad, dark chuckle. "It doesn't." She replied honestly. "It never stops hurting. One day, you just wake up and know that you can do it. That you can live. Without them. For them. Because of them."

The two girls stayed clasping one another for a few minutes before Octavia pulled away, wiping her eyes roughly. "Never mention this." She growled, earning a smile and a nod from River who was silently wondering if, despite her loud mouth, she may have made a few friends that day. If not friends, perhaps simply people that she could accept help from and offer it to every so often.

* * *

 **Okay, so before I end things, what does anyone think about romance? Not in the next few chapters while things are still getting off the ground, but possibly in the future chapters. I've got a few ideas rolling around but I'd love to hear what someone else may be thinking.**

 **Have a great day!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So, the finished product of Chapter Eight is (minus this section and the one at the bottom) at 3,266 words which is a personal best for the story even if it's still on the small side. I'm still giving a huge amount of thought as to whether I want their to be any romance for River in this story or if I should allow it to live up to it's name of her being a sole survivor and perhaps staying that way. Please do tell me what you think of it and hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter!**

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River, as time passed, learned a little more about the surviving members of the Ark each time she saw them. She learned that Kane thought of Clarke and the rest of the Hundred, in a beautiful was, as his own children. She learned that Abby, despite everything, loved her daughter unconditionally, and she too loved the rest of the kids as if they too were her own. She learned that Monty, the kid with zero game, was dating Harper, a beautiful girl that wouldn't have looked twice at him on the Ark. They were happy and so very in love. She learned that Jasper, poor weak Jasper, was slowly but surely getting over his alcohol abuse problem following the death of a girl named Maya. She learned that Clarke often woke with tears in her eyes after a particularly bitter sweet dream of the commander that died of a bullet meant for her. She learned that Bellamy blamed himself not only for the death of Lincoln but also for the loss emotionally of his sister. She learned that Octavia, although angry, didn't hate her brother, she simply missed Lincoln more than she could put into any sort of words.

She learned a lot.

"This is pointless." Octavia grumbled, crossing her arms petulantly over her chest.

River couldn't help but chuckle, laughing even more when she received a glare. "It's not pointless." She argued, stabbing downward with her staff, using the boar's tusk to fierce flesh, "You've just got to aim-"

"I _am_ aiming!" Octavia snapped, jabbing with her own spear, but missing entirely. "This is fucking dumb. I don't need this! I can hunt in the woods."

Shaking her head, River pulled her catch from the water and flung it to dry land from where the two girls were standing in the lake, pants rolled up to their knees, spears in hand, fishing. Or at least River was fishing. Octavia was stabbing and failing.

"Look, stop." River chuckled, placing a hand on Octavia's arm to cease her motions. "You're trying to fight it and the ones you've killed have just been sliced in half and eaten by the others. You've got to remember, you're an executioner in the water, not a warrior. You have to deliver a strike, not a swing."

"Quit it with the wise teacher crap."

"No can do. I'm a wise teacher, it's just who I am." River laughed loudly as Octavia rolled her eyes with a scowl.

Since the day three days ago that Octavia had arrived with her horse, tent and belongings, River hadn't once questioned the girl. She let her settle down and make camp around her fire-pit. She let her move everything into the Station with a grumble when River set some cooked fish down, and she let the younger girl thrust the leg of some small mammal at her when they ate later in the day.

She understood. Arkadia, although lovely, was crammed full of people. People that all dealt with grief and loss in their own ways, ways that weren't Octavia's way.

It seemed to be a silent agreement that Octavia would train River in hand to hand combat if River would teach her how to fish in return, though the fishing wasn't going so well.

"There are too many fish, it makes one hard to hit!" Octavia snapped.

Another thing that River had learned was the smiles weren't going to come easy from Octavia. The girl seemed to want for them simply to be alone together, something that she could easily relate to.

They fished for another half an hour as the sun rose until Octavia finally speared a fish's head, lifting it into the air and throwing it to the ground victoriously with a battle shout of sorts that amused River greatly. They skinned, gutted and ate their catches raw, having decided to go foraging and possibly expand River's map.

Octavia had told her that Lincoln had drawn the most beautiful things, maps included, and had shown her the small book that was much like her own. River smiled that night and had said how Matt couldn't draw to save his life but had the most beautiful singing voice and that her favourite thing about the Ark was waking up to him humming gently. That was the moment in which River knew that she had a friend in the younger girl despite their bickering -which she figured was just banter- and their differences.

"Damn, you're one bone mask away from looking like you were born here." Octavia grumbled once River had pulled her furs and protective clothing on.

Smirking, River replied "I actually do have one of those." and it was true, she had made one after seeing them on the grounders once or twice. She figured they'd be less likely to kill her if they thought from afar that she was one of them.

Octavia and River fished for a little longer until Octavia successfully speared a fish in just the right way, pulling it from the water with a victorious yell and watching as it hung limply from the spear; hanging from the wound in its head. Both women were all but sick of the water by the time Octavia had caught her fish, so they went from the older woman's solace to the younger's.

River wasn't by any means someone that needed to learn how to hunt desperately, but when Octavia had half offered and half stated that she'd teach her to hunt in return for the fishing tips, she was hardly one to turn it down. So there they were, walking silently through the woods with their weapons in hand. River had donned her furs and her mask of bone just in case anything predatory tried to make a meal of them, while Octavia was confident enough in her simply armour and sword skills that she didn't opt for any additional layers.

They trecked hard at a brisk pace for almost an hour before Octavia's hand shot up, signalling silently for them to stop.

Initially, River was confused. She couldn't see a thing other than trees and the ground. The she realised, neither could Octavia. She watched the younger girl cock her head, very clearly listening to something. Remaining silent, she followed suit, hearing nothing for a moment. Then she heard it. The deer rumbling that resonated only from the chest of a predator.

The hairs stood on the back of her neck and her palms grew clammy. If whatever was growling had already seen them then they already had their work cut out for them.

"Where is it-"

" _Shut. Up."_ Octavia snarled, her head moving incredibly slowly to scan the trees.

Sighing, River rolled her shoulders and shook off her fear. She could use a new pelt.

Both girls stood in waiting for the longest ten seconds of River's life before they could finally pin the noise. "There." River gasped, feeling shock relax her entire body in one seconds as she laid eyes on the single most beautiful animal that she'd ever seen. A doe white as snow with a hide red with blood. It seemed to see the two girls before it lived out it's final seconds; locking eyes with River just as the predator leaped from a nearby tree, leaving the doe dead on the ground with a huge gash where her throat should have been.

"Panther." Octavia snarled, all but spitting the word from her mouth.

The panther's coat was black, as black as the charred wood where River had burned everyone that had meant anything to her. She immediately hated this animal, not only for that but also for killing the doe.

"It's got a baby." Octavia's words caught River as she found herself raising her spear. A baby? "I could us a white hat." White?

"What?" River mumbled, watching as the panther, seemingly still not having seen them, chowed down on what had previously been a beautiful deer.

"The doe." Octavia supplied, pointing slowly and carefully. "It's got- had a baby. See there? Little spindly thing with a bloody face- what the fuck?" She cut herself short as River charged.

River, not a great hunter, did relatively well in her method of simply charging and thrusting her spear into the chest of the shocked panther, pinning it immediately to a nearby tree with an adrenaline filled cry as it swung its claws, catching her arm. It ceased after that, however, with Octavia's short protruding from it's head.

"Well, I guess for that, you can have the doe and baby if you want? Don't take it personal but I kinda want the cat. If you're not wanting the baby though, I could still use a white-"

"We're not killing it." River stated, yanking her spear from the dead cat with a huff.

"What?" Octavia scoffed, letting the corpse drop from her sword. "Are you insane?"

"No." River sighed, walking over to where the doe lay with still open eyes. The baby beside it was incredibly small, looking too young to be off it's mother's milk. It had a coat as crystal white as its mother's, aside from the slight scrapes above it's front left leg and a small piece of a thorn bush protruding from it's neck; thankfully not the front where it could have caused more damage. "Thorn." River muttered, crouching beside it. It mooned up at her with enormous eyes and she knew she couldn't kill it. "You know," She started, shedding her coat and picking it up, wrapping it in a bundle. "My boyfriend's last name was Thorn. You like that? Maybe with an E on the end just to make it different. Thorne. You look like a Thorne to me, little one."

"You sound bat-shit crazy, you fucking know that?"

"Shut up. He's coming with me."

* * *

The car ride to Arkadia was amusing to say the least. Little Thorne, who River discovered was male after bathing the blood from his coat and dressing his wounds as best she could, seemed to have found his voice.

His voice, which seemed to be the best way to put it, was high pitched and somewhat akin to the scream of a child. He proceeded to scream in turn at everyone in the car from the safety of River's coat with his little head bobbing when the car shook over the bumps in the road. He even took a moment to look up at River and scream directly in her face, earning an amused chuckle from her, a smile never leaving her place.

The others in the car who had simply been there to tell River that there was business to be discussed, Kane, Clarke and a Grounder woman with dark skin who River learned was named Indra, well, they looked a little less than impressed by Thorne, although upon seeing the outsider smile, Kane and Clarke seemed to look much less murderous than Indra.

"We'll need a team for this. The likelihood of them returning alive is slim, realistically this is a suicide mission. However, if this team succeeds, dead or alive, they would be honoured as the heroes of Earth; they would be the team that risked their lives to save us all."

River, from her seat, knew she was gaping. The car ride was over, she and Thorne were in a conference room in the Ark that was full of arkers, Grounder and people like her who fell somewhere in between on the scale. She was thrilled to see that some of the others looked as equally fucked in the head as she did.

What shocked her more, however, was when the ground people began to raise their hands in their masses. She could hear them speaking their own language and she was clearly one of the only people in the room that didn't understand.

"This team," A large grounder began, standing in his seat. "How do we know that one will suffice?" He asked, looking around the room with a stern glare. "If there are six areas that we must reach, then surely we must send six of these- how do you call them? Boats?"

"Yes, boats." Clarke nodded, stood beside Kane where the two of them stood with Abby and Bellamy. The four of them were very clearly the most respected people in the camp, it made sense to have them lead such a bold meeting in which they asked people to risk their lives. "As of right now, we have only securred three boats that we can run on the fuel supplies that we've got. We did find a fourth but we believe that someone may be living in it-"

"They will leave for Wanheda." The same man with his stern eyes and apparently equally stern voice seemed sure of this fact. "Heda made it clear to us all that Skaikru is one of us now, part of the coalition. Since Heda's death there have been no more _natblidas_ born. We have no one to lead us, so why not Wanheda? Heda trusted you with her life, therefore I shall trust you with mine." And with that slight speech, the man drew his sword and lay it on the table about three seats away from River.

People began to mutter, then louder until there were a few shouts.

This man was clearly having none of that. "Silence!" He boomed, immediately getting his expected result of just that. Silence. "We are armies with no leader. If Heda trusted Wanheda with a life as important as her own then we shall show her the same respect!"

"I'm not a leader." Clarke stated. "Marcus is our leader. If anyone should lead, it's him."

"Marcus Kane is an honourable man." The man stated, nodding. "Alas, Wanheda, you are already a commander. A commander of death. Surely it would be, as you say, poetic irony? Yes, poetic irony, that the commander of death is the one to save us all."

That was when it happened. "Wanheda." Another man said, saying it as if it was a prayer. He too then drew his sword, laying it on the table with a small nod. The rest of the table began to follow suit and before long River reaslised that Octavia had said it and she was the last one.

They were looking at her.

She drew her dagger of bone with a small clearing of her throat. "Wanheda." She stated, giving an encouraging nod to a paling Clarke as she set her weapon down.

She couldn't help but sigh. The poor girl was being raked into yet another position of power that she clearly didn't want. She was being forced to the head of a suicide squad, was she not?

The meeting seemed to end just as quickly as it had started, ending with Kane telling everyone that each team would consist of people with specialities such as doctors, mechanics and people who in ordinary circumstances would be held back safely away from the fight and danger. However, if the correct people didn't go then there would be no need for doctors once the word had fallen.

Everyone reclaimed their weapons from the table as they left, though the man who had been speaking made his way over to where Clarke and the others stood. Curious, River was about to ask where she should go only for Octavia to drag her in the same direction anyway.

She found herself interested by the tall, stern stranger. Her head came to just below the top of his shoulder that she almost bumped into and his eyes were the deepest blue that she had ever seen, something that she learned when he looked at her, clearly offended by the scream that Thorne was sending in his direction.

"Silence your hand warmer, or I shall do it for you." His voice, naturally, was just as deep as those eyes.

"Hand warmer?" River scoffed. "He's a baby deer. And he has a name."

"Well I do not know his name. Not that I would use it if I did."

Thorne let out another perfectly timed scream, this time looking up at River as he did so.

"I believe that you should put the animal to death. It will not survive without a mother."

"I'm his mother now." River answered stubbornly, wrapping her arms around herself and Thorne. She then turned to Clarke. "Look, I've been thinking, you're having specialised teams, right? Well you called me here for a reason; that reason being that you want me on a ship, right? I'm on board, fine, but what could I offer?"

"The head of that squealing thing, perhaps?"

"You've lived in the water for months." Clarke answered with a shrug. "I know that you weren't at sea and it won't be much like where you live now, but anything is preferable over nothing, especially if you know how to fish. I know that we're grasping at straws here, but it's all we've got if we want to save ourselves."

"I know how to fish in a lake that's as deep as my knees."

"Well the parties will leave soon, a week, two at most, so you have that long to learn how to fish in deeper waters." Kane's voice, although hard, was still gentle somehow. River would never stop being amazed at just how much the ground had changed him.

Nodding, she knew that she was already up for this. She had to get learning as soon as possible. She would start with the lake below her own, possibly swim into the caves if she could. "Okay, so each boat will have a fisher?"

"Two." Abby replied, nodding. "In case of infection, wounding, death, et cetera."

Great. Death. "Two." River nodded, thinking. "So you need to send them all to my lake. They can come back with me today and we'll all get learning. If some of them are grounders, could they know how to fish in the sea already? If they do then-"

"The boat people fear war." The tall man stated, interrupting River without a second thought. "We are people of woods, deserts, small villages that have never seen the open waters. They will not know how to find their food in the water. You shall teach them."

"And the boat people?" River asked. "This isn't a war, so why aren't they here?"

Sighing, the others looked between themselves, clearly then realising just how little River knew about politics on the ground.

"Without Lexa as Heda, some of the clans believe that their own royalty of sorts should claim her throne." Clarke told the older girl, clearly having some trouble saying her lover's name so casually. "She fought and died for peace in the coalition, peace that not all of the clans were entirely sure about. Azgeda in particular are pushing their king to invade and take the throne for himself."

Nodding, River began to understand. "But they can't do that if he's only got a number of weeks to rule." She gained a nod from Clarke. "So they want us to save everyone just so they can slaughter them themselves?"

"Azgeda are cowards." The stern grounder confirmed, his voice holding a note of distaste. "They shall try and they shall fail. None of us will live under their rule. We shall unite against them once we have saved Earth."

"Ah well, thank goodness you make it sound so easy." River jested, scoffing lightly. "I was under the impression that it was going to be tough." Thorne screamed loudly, seconding her point.

* * *

 **Alrighty then, that's the end of Chapter Eight and although it's a day late (sorry), it's technically still Friday somewhere so I like to think that I was still on time with this. Anyhow, please please please tell me what you then whether it's good, bad or just "meh", I'd love to know if anyone has any preferences on the whole "possible love interest for River" thing, whether they're male, female, whatever, or maybe she should just stay single. So yeah, please tell me what you're thinking and have a great day!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Alrighty, so this isn't a necessarily long chapter (2,293 words minus the author's notes) but I'm just trying to flesh things out a little and get used to writing each of the characters before things kick off. I'm still a little unsure as to how a few of the original characters from the books/show would act to certain things so please bear with me if anyone's a little too OOC for your liking.**

 **Hopefully you'll enjoy though!**

* * *

 **Nine.**

Grumpily, River finished cleaning the literal shit from her floor with a groan, silently cursing Thorne. She had taken him in without a second thought as to his toilet habits, what he needed to eat and all of the other things that came with taking an animal into your home.

As sick as it may have sounded, she had ended up using his mother's coat as a blanket, finding it both adorable and sick when he curled up on it and promptly fell asleep. She figured that it must have still smelled like her and although he wouldn't understand that it actually was her, he was clearly comforted by it.

It was officially one week and three days until the three boats departed for their separate destinations. Although there was still time to play with before the actual end of the world, everyone was very clearly eager to try and sort things out as quickly as possible, just in case things didn't work and needed a second shot.

Having finished with Thorne's poop problem, River decided that it was almost time to get up anyhow, so she did just that, retreating into her little closet and dressing herself in light clothes that would keep her just warm enough in the morning sun without overheating her.

It had been two days since the meeting in Arkadia and since then there had only been more meetings. She'd ended up staying the first night, opting to sleep in a tent not far from Octavia rather than inside the Ark. It would have been a little too close to her Station yet a little too far from it too for her liking.

Thorne had continued to annoy everyone by screaming at them, taking a particular liking to screaming at Clarke and Indra whenever they passed. Clarke laughed it off and Indra gripped her sword with a snarl.

Sighing as she exited the Station, River groaned and stretched, letting her joints creak and pop just right, easing some of the tension in her body.

Thorne, on his skinny legs, raced from her closet straight to her side, screaming the entire way and leaping clumsily over the door's lip, falling into the water on his landing but shooting quickly back to his feet. River was definitely impressed by him. He was clearly a strong little sucker, having been close to death's door two days ago.

Chuckling, River reached down and scratched his head where his antlers would some day push through. He had been wary of her at first but had taken only a number of hours to get used to her once he realised that almost everyone else wasn't so keen on him and she kept him warm. He clearly enjoyed being warm, but didn't seem too bothered by the morning's chill.

"Will you bring him on the boat?" A voice asked, having River spinning with a brow raised. No one stood in the doorway. "Up here." And so she looked up to see him, tall, dark and handsome, not to mention stern, sitting on top of the Station's main room with his legs hanging down. She had to admit that he actually looked smaller when no one was stood beside him. His muscle mass was such that he looked short and stocky with lean muscle, when it actual fact he was tall and stocked full of hard muscle that she didn't doubt could row their boat should the motor give out.

Nodding, she stepped back and let the huge man gracefully leap down to the exact spot that her boyfriend had died. "He'll go where I go." She confirmed, pleasantly surprised to see that he was wearing only a pair of pants and a thin t-shirt. She figured he must have accepted them from Skaikru as they looked much too modern for a grounder. She also felt a little more at ease around him when he wasn't geared up to his eyeballs with knives, swords and the sort.

River had been less than amused when she found out that he was going to be on the same boat as her since she had, although she found him pleasing to the eye, quickly formed an opinion of him. One that said he was an asshole.

Thorne, with his ever perfect timing, looked up at the large man and squealed at him before happily jumping up and down a few times in the water.

The warrior, in turn, sneered down at the small animal as if that would make a difference. "It is time to wake the others." He decided, seemingly as grumpy as she was that morning. "The water here may wait for us, but the world shall not."

Nodding, she figured he was right. "You've got it, big man." She stated tiredly, taking in one last second of silence and tranquillity. "You called it, you get the honours. Go wake 'em up, big'n."

"Abraham." Was all he said before disappearing inside and shouting loudly, rousing everyone.

With a shake of her head, River mentally prepared herself for the day. She was relatively happy that Octavia had all but moved in despite not being one of the fishers. She had since moved from the side the lake with her horse to inside the Station at the far end of what was once a conference room, her horse sleeping not five feet away from her. The poor thing took a little convincing to get inside but soon realised that it was a little warmer and dry inside. Having Octavia there made her a little less on edge as the two of them seemed to have gelled on some unspoken level and she knew that Octavia was a skilled fighter should anyone such as a raiding party made to attack them.

The tall man, Abraham he had said, emerged a minute later with the rest of the fishermen in tow as well as Octavia who lead her horse out and over to the dry land at the edge of the lake where she left it.

Getting starting proved less problematic that River had anticipated as everyone there spoke English to a rather good degree. She didn't exactly like being the only one that didn't speak Trigedasleng, but she knew she would pick it up over time. The only issue seemed to be that she was the only one that could swim. Apparently the grounders hadn't seen much need to learn as they essentially lived in the trees and the only lakes that they crossed were all as shallow as the knee-deep part of her lake.

"Does anyone know how to swim?" River asked, brows furrowed. "Clarke, Kane, Abby, Raven? Anyone?"

Shrugging, Octavia thought it over before shaking her head. "The only time we've been near the sea was with the boat people. We were knocked out and transported. We've never needed to learn. Maybe Clarke but I don't know."

River nodded, understanding. She was clearly a lucky one then. "If anyone falls over the side of the ship, they'll need to know how to swim. Radio and tell them to all come here, it's not as if they're working on much anyway, right?"

Octavia shrugged again. "They're hoping that sitting in a pile or parts will reveal some anti-radiation device."

Scoffing, River shook her head in disbelief. "We've got a week and a half for them to learn how to swim if they want to survive sailing thousands of miles of water that they could easily find themselves in, not to mention that if anything happens to the ship we might all have to swim anyway."

Understanding, Octavia nodded and left to get the radio without another word, returning a moment later to confirm to River that she'd been direct and stated her concerns. Kane was assembling everyone that would be on the ships in the Rovers and they would be a couple of hours away.

Until then, River began explaining to the group of six around her how fishing worked. She told them all how the shimmer of the water could be deceiving and how they would have to be careful if they wanted a clean kill. Most of them picked it up relatively quickly, though Octavia and one other seemed to find it particularly difficult. Using a net, River sectioned part of the lake off so that they could fish without the risk of killing too many fish, not that the cannibalistic things would have cared much.

The group fished for the remaining time until a group of Rovers all pulled up near Octavia's chestnut horse, five or six people emerging from each of them. Doing a quick head-count, River noted that there were definitely more than the thirty people going on the boats, but figured that everyone should learn how to swim.

It took a while to convince everyone that they wouldn't drown or be eaten by fish, but before long River had everyone in the water. She slightly hated it, not enjoying so many people dirtying her lake, but at the same time she knew that what they were doing was important and now wasn't the time to get territorial.

Raven Reyes took the longest to convince that it was safe, worrying about her brace, but River could see that it was just fear in her eyes as she looked at the fish. It was a decidedly odd fear to have, but River had been terrified of one of her father's sweaters when she was three or four so she knew all about odd fears. In order to help Raven, she reached down and grabbed a fish, pulling it out of the water by it's tail and letting it die in the air. "If you feel one nip you, just get it out of the water. Dead. The others will eat it if you don't want it." And with that she dropped it back in, watching the other fish swarm to the dead flesh to prove her point.

And so, everyone was in the water.

"Okay, so everyone just needs to wade out." River started, walking backwards into the slightly deeper water so she could watch the large group move. She noted that Clarke moved the easiest, probably having been in a body of water before, closely followed by Octavia who proceeded to slip a couple of times but kept her footing.

"Let's bring the taller people to the front since they've got further out to come." She carried on walking as she spoke until the water came to just beneath her chest. Everyone else began shifting, the tallest people coming forward while the shorter ones moved further back.

She noticed Jasper, Monty, Miller, Miller Senior, Kane, Bellamy and Abraham, aka Big'n, coming closest to her, Abraham still being the tallest of them.

"How far out do we have to go?" Monty asked, looking cautiously to the fish that survived by eating their own as well as River's scraps.

River, holding a happily screaming Thorne, shrugged. "You come far enough out that the water comes to your neck or shoulders so you can lift your legs up. If you ever feel like you're gonna panic then just put your feet back down. The fish'll move out of your way."

If it had only been that simple.

All it took was one of the Arkers to feel a fish nibble at her leg and she screamed, jumping about five feet forward and out of her depth, splashing and immediately panicking.

Had the girl not been so terrified, River would have laughed. Alas, instead she surged forward with Thorne in one arm, helping a couple of men to hold the girl upright and walking her back towards the back of the group so she could calm down. It took a few minutes of Clarke helping the girl with slow breathing before she blushed crimson and apologised. The Arkers shrugged it off with an understanding glance but the Grounders were less understanding, scowling.

River placed Thorne by the Station in the shallow water so she could concentrate fully on the swimming, chuckling as he screamed while she waded away.

After a little while, some of the group was growing more comfortable with pulling their legs up for a few seconds and allowing their full lungs to keep them buoyant, though a few panicked a little when they expelled their breath and began to sink a little. River decided that they needed to see that they were safe to float, so she told them all to get into pairs and watched as everyone did as she asked. "Right, now everyone number themselves either One or Two in the pairs. Ones, you're going to support your partner while Twos, you guys are going to lean back and let the others hold you up. Once everyone's floating I'll check and help them to let go of you. You'll all be safe and just float on the top of the water."

She was pleased to see that Clarke was without a partner somehow, calling her forward, saying that she'd partner with her.

The two girls, one blonde and the other brunette, showed the rest of the group how to do what River had suggested, River proving with Clarke that it was simple enough and no one would get hurt.

Seeing Clarke as an example seemed to drive a few of the others onward just as River had hoped and before long she was wading around and holding people in place as their partners leg go, letting them float before she moved onto the next. There were only two people that proved problematic, Bellamy and Abraham, both of whom began to sink as soon as they were released, seemingly having to use a lot of effort to stay afloat.

River hoped that wasn't some sick kind of foreshadowing.

* * *

 **I know that this chapter is very clearly a filler and for that I apologise, however, I assure everyone that things will become more exciting soon. I'm still giving thought as to River's romantic situation and no decision has been made yet but thank you for any suggestions that have already been thrown my way and feel free to carry on throwing them at me.**

 **If anyone has any specific requests of any sort then please do tell me and I'll do my best to meet them if they fit. Have a great day everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Well, I almost didn't get it out on time, yet here we are at 23:24, thankfully still Friday. This chapter, much like the last, is definitely a filler just for while I'm working things out. If anyone wants longer chapters then I'm sorry but they're not coming quite yet, though they are on their way, just hang tight.**

* * *

 **Ten.**

The swimming lessons, although frequent, could only go so far in the short space of a week. It wasn't long before the final few days were rolling around and River found herself and Thorne getting ready to get on the boat.

In order to get used to what would be her home away from home for a while, River decided that they would both move in before they had to, living a couple of days on the water to get used to the gentle rocking of the boat in the sea. It had taken a lot to leave her home of the Station, especially knowing that she may never return, but she did so anyway, moving herself onto what she knew must have been a luxury boat before everything had struck.

She, Clarke, Jasper and Bellamy volunteered to clean it all out, though only she and Clarke seemed to have the stomach for it when they found the remains of a dead family still sitting at a family table. They wrapped the family in an old rug and dragged them one by one off the boat, burying them in a shallow grave that was definitely less than what they deserved, but there was no time to do more for them.

The four of them, being rid of the corpse family, gutted the boat, throwing everything that wasn't essential over the edge, deciding that they could always bring things back on board if they wanted to.

It took three whole days and fifty pairs of hands constantly working to get the airlock systems in place on the boats. Luckily, it seemed that the end of the world coming hadn't been much of a secret, so the luxurious boats already had their own systems that simply needed checking and some power.

All the while, no matter what was going on, Thorne skipped around, following River and screaming at anyone who dared glance at him. It seemed that she'd grown on him since the death of his mother, only leaving her side in order to sleep on his mother's pelt each night which River kept close to herself anyway.

"So it's finally ready?" Kane asked, laboriously wiping a streak of sweat from his brow.

Panting, River stripped herself of the final layer that she could afford to lose, standing in the thinnest of shorts and her sports bra. She had long since forgotten about that so called thing called modesty. She didn't need to be modest, she needed to cool the hell down.

"It's done." Raven confirmed, her shirt stained with sweat patches just as everyone's was. "I think."

Leaning down, River cupped her hands into the sea water that lapped at her and doused Thorne before he could run away. He immediately did so, but she knew that he must have been sweltering with his baby coat still being so fluffy. She considered asking medical for some scissors to trim him down, but she had no idea what the climate would be like where they were going, so she just threw water at him every so often and shaded him when she could. It hardly helped that he ran around and tried to drink sea water.

"You think?" Bellamy panted, his hands on his sides from exhaustion. They'd all just finished dragging all sorts of equipment and the sort onto the boat, none of which could get even remotely wet which only made it harder.

Raven, the fiery woman that she was, turned to Bellamy with a glare. "Yes," She snapped. "I think." Her voice was rough from the lack of fresh drinking water as none of them had taken breaks yet. "Look, Bellamy, we're not exactly in some radiation filled area right now, so, do I know whether or not those doors will keep anything out? No! I don't freaking know-"

"Okay, okay. It's alright, Rae." Clarke, every the peace maker, placed a hand on the older girl's shoulder and gave a warning glance to Bellamy who raised his hands in surrender with slight shock written across his face. "Come on, let's all get some water and some food. There should still be a few good hours of sunlight for us to work in once we're done."

Thorne, despite having run away from having water dumped on him, sprinted immediately after River on his awkwardly long and wobbly legs as soon as she began to leave for food and clean water, screaming up at her when he crashed into one of her legs and tumbled over.

As she ate fish that she knew had been sourced from her river, feeding Thorne leaves from around her to avoid him trying a nearby patch of poisonous shrubbery, River watched everyone. She watched the way that Raven, no matter who was talking to her, couldn't pull her eyes away the newly finished airlock that they would all be placing their lives in. She watched Bellamy, noting that of everyone, he was really only looking at members of The 100, never once glancing at her or even Kane. He especially didn't look to any of the grounders. She watched Clarke who, despite the strong facade, looked tired enough that even if they dropped her in the water she might still try to sleep. Kane, well, poor Kane, he looked as if he'd not seen a bar of soap in days and he probably hadn't, being so preoccupied with everything boat-wise.

A scream brought River from her people-watching. It was a panicked scream, loud and shrill right in her ear. It was Thorne. She immediately pulled a bone knife and made to stand only to realise that Abraham, the asshole grounder that suggested her white baby deer would make a good hand warmer, was picking him up in one huge hand only to lower himself to sit beside her and drop the screaming animal in his own lap, the same heavy hand draper over Thorne's back casually as he reached forward and took a piece of fish from beside the fire.

"He is not even worth throwing into the fire." Abraham stated, making River's blood boil that the man had considered it.

"Good." She snarled. "If you tried, I'd press your damn head in there, so just-"

"River-"

"Not now, Clarke." River's voice showed that there was no wiggle room. She cared for this screaming ball of awkward deer and she'd be damned if tall, handsome and asshole hurt such an innocent creature. "You hurt my deer, I'll hurt you."

Smirking, Abraham began to scratch Thorne, ignoring the seemingly worried screams directed at River. "I tell you that I will not throw him into the fire and you threaten me?" He scoffed, amused. "Girl, I find it oddly attractive that you believe you are enough of a match to hurt me-"

"I'm the strongest swimmer here. Let's hope you don't fall into the sea and sink, dead-weight."

River's previously good mood was gone, only getting worse when Asshole smirked and chuckled to himself, eating his fish. What shocked her, however, was when he pulled a tiny piece of meat from the skeleton and held it to Thorne in his lap, chuffing approvingly when Thorne, who River swore should have been a herbivore, ate it happily.

She listened to Kane as he spoke to Arkers and Grounders alike, explaining to everyone what was going to be happening for the millionth time, every so often glancing at Thorne to see that he was still okay, only to be shocked half to death when she turned and saw him falling asleep spread across a single of Abraham's huge thighs. ' _Traitor_ ' she cursed him mentally.

The people of both the ground and the sky respected Kane, it was clear that when the leader f the Grounders, Lexa, was alive, that she had shown the man respect, as her living warriors now did too. River wondered how hard it must have been for them all to be without a leader for so long, but insider her heart she knew that from the looks on their faces, they would follow " _Wanheda_ " wherever she lead them.

If there was any sky person that they held in higher regard than Kane, it most definitely was Clarke.

The rest of the day was much of a muchness. Everyone worked hard to get the rest of the equipment aboard the boat before they allowed for a few luxuries such as a couch that only had one fault being that it stank of dead folk, but River knew a good scrub would be enough. Everyone's bed rolls were set in one corner as where they would all sleep was the least of their worries.

Before too long, it was decided by Clarke that all of the boats needed oars in case anything went wrong with the motors, so the Grounders set to work in vigour, chopping nearby trees and squabbling over how best to treat the wood before confirming that there was no time, simply whittling away and producing oar after enormous oar, each of which would take at least two people to wield it.

River, never one to be too lazy, helped with the task of heaving the oars to the boat. They were heavy, but she knew the science and logic behind where to pick it up, how to pick it up and just how to walk with a heavy load. She could see that she gained some respect that day when she single-handedly moved three of the eight oars that were going to her respective boat.

By the end of the day as night rolled in, River bid her goodbyes to almost everyone as they wanted to get the last few nights of sleep in their own beds. She wasn't that fussy, thanking Marcus when he handed her a small barrel that was filled to the brim with fish and a bottle of what looked like Monty's moonshine, before she began to bed down for the night.

The only people who stayed were Octavia, Raven, Clarke, Abraham and Bellamy. River knew that the others found themselves drawn to Clarke when she made a decision, but she knew that Octavia and her already seasick horse were there because River was. She saw the way that Octavia still had anger for Clarke and Bellamy, her brother especially. River knew that feeling. She knew how it felt to be angry with someone you loved. It was one of the most disgustingly crushing feelings in the world.

"I can't believe you're sleeping on there." Bellamy grumbled, disgusted at River as she rolled her bed roll out onto the couch of death, laying Thorne's mother's hide over herself and letting him curl up on her as she lay down.

Shrugging, River closed her eyes. "It's comfortable." She mused.

"It stinks." He retorted, almost audibly rolling his eyes.

At this, River smirked and chuckled. "So do we."

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Sighing gently, River poked her head out from behind the tree trunk that she was using as a hiding space, looking to find Octavia's only give away: the glint of light flashing from her sword once, twice, three time. Three flashes, it was safe.

Nodding her recognition, River gently threw the small stone from her palm into the small clearing.

The animals between not only Octavia and River but the rest of the hunting party all stood immediately at attention. Indra had lead them all to a popular watering hole that morning, wanting to stock up on as much meat as possible that could be salted for the journey.

It took a mere three and a half minutes from that moment until the hunting party of thirteen were all wearing the blood of the animals and said animals were lifeless on the ground. River, Indra and Octavia immediately set about skinning the mountain of kills while the others went in search of more animals.

"You would be wise not to anger Abraham." Indra stated, her knife slicing a sliver of meat from bone where the flesh had torn. "He is respected among us and though he may tolerate you for now, he is not known for being a man with a high tolerance once he has grown bored."

Sighing once more, River continued to skin her kills. She wasn't trying to anger the oaf, he just kept making not so subtle remarks about the ending of Thorne's life. "I'm not angering him." She replied, slinging bloody hide over her shoulder before wiping her knife and sharpening it while she continued to speak. "I'm sure that I'll know if I anger someone of his size-"

"You would not."

"What?"

Scoffing, Indra smirked down at the meat in her hand. "They call him _Nithaihefa_."

"Nethifler? What the fuck does that mean?"

" _Nithaihefa_." Octavia corrected, a look of shock on her usually tough features. "It means Night King."

Smirking, River couldn't help but chuckle. "Night King? What's he a king of?" He certainly didn't seem like royalty of any kind to her, although he did seem to be listened to by most. "Also, you know there's a guy called the _Night King_ in a book, right? You guys totally took that for _A Game of Thrones_."

"River, I've heard stories about _Nithaihefa_ , he's not someone you should clash with."

"Well come on, someone tell me about the so called Night King."

It wasn't under Indra was done and all the meat was pulled from each bone that River realised that she wished she hadn't asked. Abraham, _Nithaihefa,_ the Night King, was a killer. Not just a killer, a murderer. A former assassin of Lexa's who had grown up with her and had become one of the most efficient weapons that the Grounders had ever seen. Before the alliance, he had personally wiped out at least seventeen Arkers, though when Lexa had demanded peace, he had bowed and swore to keep it.

The worst part? The worst part was that in securing land before Lexa was Heda, Abraham had been part of a team of "cleaners", as Octavia translated from whatever term Indra had used. He had brought villages to their knees. He had killed men, women and children simply because a finger had been pointed their way.

River felt sick to her stomach knowing that she would be on a boat with such a monster, but it dawned on her that most of the people that she now considered friends weren't much better than him. How many lives had Clarke taken simply because she had thought it was the way to peace?

"We're all too far fucking gone." She grumbled to herself. "Maybe it'd just be better if the world swallowed us up and started again." Thorne screamed at her feet, seemingly agreeing with her.

* * *

 **So, Chapter Ten is at a close. Any questions? Queries? Anything at all, feel free to throw it at me. If anyone has any thoughts or feelings of any persuasion then please don't hesitate to tell me as I love getting feedback and knowing how I'm/the story is doing.**

 **Have a great day and thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Alrighty, so it's Saturday morning and it struck me that I didn't post yesterday (sorry!) due to a family emergency keeping me and my laptop apart for the whole day. Luckily for you guys (maybe) I had a vile nightmare about two hours ago and haven't slept since so the previously incomplete chapter that I was going to finish yesterday is now complete and hopefully you guys like it.**

* * *

 **Eleven**

With her teeth clenched, River grabbed Thorne by the scruff of his neck, ignoring the screaming, and yanked him from the slowly deepening water onto the safety of the boat. "You can't swim here, dumbass." She growled, ragging her coat off and throwing it over the shaking, sopping wet animal. "You can't even swim in the lake." She then grumbled, wondering what had possessed the milky deer to leap over the boat's edge and into the water.

"The animal is lucky to have you to care for it."

River had decided as soon as the boat pushed away from land that she would entrust the rest of the crew with her life should she have to, that included Abraham and the other Grounders. She had to trust everyone there. She had to trust that if she fell into the water, that someone would jump in after her just as she swore she would for any of them. She wasn't all too certain that any other than Octavia would and even then she only thought Octavia would because she seemed to be one of the few that the angry girl spoke to.

"He's just a baby." River replied to Abraham as if that would explain her love for Thorne. "Have you ever seen anything as pure as him?" She then asked, genuinely curious as to what such a man considered to be pure. Children? Love? Anything? Even killing?

Abraham, in all his muscular elegance, lowered himself to sit beside her and glanced emptily at Thorne as she rubbed him dry. "Innocence, purity, they are weakness. He is weak."

Weak? He was a baby. "He's not weak." River argued, perplexed as she turned to face the enormous Grounder. "It isn't possible to be weak unless you also have the option to be strong. Without the option to show strength, how could he possibly show weakness?"

"He shows that he is weak by following you. He does not show thought to feed himself. He sleeps beside you, eat what you hand to him. You even have to pull him from the sea because he is too weak to swim."

River couldn't help but scoff. "He's never been taught how to swim!" She snapped, because how on Earth could this man be so blind? "He eats what I hand to him because he's not yet learned to identify and avoid poisonous foods. He sleeps beside me because it's cold, dangerous and I'm the only one who protects him. And I pulled him from the sea because he's a fucking baby that doesn't understand not to jump into the sea."

Sighing, Abraham raised what River could only describe as a challenging brow. She raised one in return. "One can be neither innocent nor pure unless they have had the chance to taint themselves and have turned it away for no reason other than wishing not to be immoral." Abraham's voice in that moment was clear. He was speaking as a man who had been faced with the same choices and had taken the other path. He had killed. He had butchered. He had slain.

River watched his face as he allowed but a second of forbidden pain to pass over his features before he locked them down again. "It's never too late to stop choosing to be immoral." She told him, sensing that in that moment he didn't need someone to challenge him; he needed someone to tell him that maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. "It only takes one second, just a single moment, to choose to be moral. To be good. To be _kind_."

Nodding, Abraham, who had long since dropped his brow, sighed the deepest of sighed, standing and walking away without so much as another word.

Luckily, River understood. Granted, the worst that she'd done was was killing a few Grounders who had been a threat to her, though even then she had done so by setting large traps as she knew that she was no match for anyone in hand to hand combat, not to mention that she wasn't sure that she had it in her heart to kill. She did. Still, she knew that for a man such as Abraham, someone who had taken so many lives of men, women and children, it must have been terribly trying to face one's demons.

She watched him go until he was safe below deck where there was the most room, admittedly cramped room. They had two Rovers, something called a motorcycle and an incredibly small piece of rubber that River had been astounded to learn would inflate into an entire boat that could hold twelve people should their boat sink, though they had all agreed that the machines and technology would be put inside their dinghy and everyone would hold on and swim to the closest shore.

River gently scooped a shivering Thorne up into her arms, drying him with her coat and walking to the control room where Bellamy was gripping the wheel. "Are we on course?" River asked, feeling warmth seep into her bones now she was out of the cold.

Chuckling and producing a winning grin, Bellamy shrugged. "I have no idea." He laughed. "I've never driven a boat before. I mean, it steers like a car and I figured cars out pretty quickly, but the ocean doesn't have roads."

"Everything in this world seems to be one shock after the other." River mused, amused. "We're sure to reach land at some point if we just keep moving." She gently clapped Bellamy on the shoulder, attempting to be encouraging. "Why don't you get some rest? I can stand here and scream if the boat starts to tip."

Laughing, Bellamy nodded and stepped away from the wheel. "We'll reach land, I just hope it's the right one. I'll get a few hours then come back, just keep the wheel still, we should still pretty much be on track."

And so River took over. She watched the far away horizon, hoping every second for land to come into view. Naturally, she knew they hadn't been sailing for nearly long enough to reach their destination, so any land that could possibly come into view wouldn't be correct. That didn't, however, stop her from hoping.

As the boat moved through the water, rocking and groaning into the waves, she looked out and watched the waves. She watched them forming and growing, shooting across the ocean and dying back into it. There was a sinister beauty to the movement.

She stood and thought about the absurdity of the whole mission before gently chuckling to herself. They were sailing on a hundred year old luxury boat in order to try and shut down some leaking power-plant and save the world in just a number of weeks. It was completely and utterly insane. Could such a task even be completed? Well, if there was one thing that she knew, it was the Earth surprised. It shocked the Ark when it proved habitable, it shocked them once more when it proved that life had not died out and here it was shocking once more by proving that no one could ever truly grasp how much it could withstand and weather and still survive.

River certainly understood surviving. Looking down briefly at Thorne clasped in one of her arms, she knew that he too would know survival. He would be toughened by the world, hardened, she had no doubt. She'd stick by him and help as much as she could, but she knew that she couldn't keep him so innocent and care free for long.

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When night fell, Bellamy and Abraham worked together to pull the lever to release the anchor and once it had fallen, everyone grouped together below deck through the safety of the airlock.

The group of them, totalling eleven rather than the two tens on the other boats, consisted of River, Clarke, Octavia, Indra, Raven, Monty, Jasper who was the extra one, Abraham, Kane, Bellamy and another Grounder named Tekken who was only sixteen but was apparently like a human camera. He remembered every path that he'd ever walked down.

Despite it seeming almost unfair how many of the specialists of their fields were on that single boat, it was decided that it really didn't matter if they took all of the best since if they didn't succeed, their talents would count for nothing as they all perished. River, however, still didn't really see why she was needed. She was happy and proud to be helping in any way that she could, but so far all she seemed to be doing was wandering about the boat, just as Indra and Octavia were too.

Kane, Jasper and Monty had spent most of their day preparing meat for the evening meal; something that would be River's, Clarke's and Raven's responsibility the next day. The three of them had done pretty well, splurging with what would otherwise be rationed such as butter and salt, once everyone agreed that the next few days of sailing could have been their last, so it was fine for them to indulge.

"I don't even care if I die," Jasper groaned around his fish, gaining a few worried glances. "I just know I can't ever go back to having fish without salt and corn without butter."

"This is what it is to die a good death." Tekken stated proudly, munching happily away.

Initially, River thought the statement to be odd. After all, who would say such a thing? Then, well, then she thought it through. A good death. What was such a thing? A good death for her would be one in which she knew she had done her best to make the world even the smallest bit better. Surely that was exactly what they were doing?

Sighing, she admitted that should she die on that boat or on whatever land they found, it truly would be a good death.

"Maybe," Kane started, laying the bones from his fish in a small pile at his feet, sucking the butter from his fingers just as they all had done. "Just maybe, we're on our way to somewhere incredible. Perhaps there's butter where we're going. Different types of cows that we could bring back with us. Who knows, there could be all sorts of animals. No one needs to die any good deaths so long as we're careful and we stick together."

River found herself agreeing with that too, mildly offended when Abraham snorted rudely, earning himself raised brows from the others and a full glare of death from River. "What?" She prompted when he glanced at them all in turn. "While we're all talking, come on, big guy."

If there was one thing that River was learning, it was that, for some reason or other, Abraham tolerated more from her than he did from the others. She knew that it may have seemed unfair to call him out on being down but when people were making an effort to be upbeat, she didn't like that he was pulling them down again."I have heard of the land of milk and honey." Abraham stated with a shrug, dropping his bones to the floor in a way that somehow angered River. How could such a tiny thing anger her? She had no idea, but it did.

"So you think that because we're not off to the land of milk and honey that we may as well die?" She snarled, angrily eyeing his fish bones.

She knew she was acting stupidly and it was almost certainly thanks to Monty's moonshine, but part of her wanted this. Part of her wanted to finally fight with someone. She wanted to feel something just as she had when Bellamy had shot her. Would pain be the only solution? She didn't know, but she knew that it worked. It gave her focus and made her work herself hard.

"And you think that we should all share you optimism and hero complex?" Abraham answered, raising his voice a little. He still didn't sound angry, only challenging, but it was enough to get Indra to reach past Octavia and dig her fingers warningly into River's shoulder.

"I do not have a hero complex." River scoffed, narrowing her eyes and shrugging Indra's hand off. She didn't doubt that the sting of the dark-skinned woman's fingers digging into her barely healed wounds would be enough to keep her grounded, but right now she could sense the anger under Abraham's skin and she wanted it out. "And for a man that doesn't remember the word _boat_ , optimism and hero complex are big words so congratu-fucking-lations." She hissed, watching his eyes darken.

"Don't have a hero complex?" Abraham laughed, his shoulders shaking. "Of course you don't. Just as I have never taken life." His teasing was so obviously meant to offend, yet all River felt again was anger. She was angry because how dare he. It wasn't much of a reason but it was what she'd got. "Tell me, if you do not have a hero complex, why do you protect that thing?"

The second that Abraham leaned forward everyone else was forgotten. River drew a bone knife as Abraham reached for Thorne and she planted it as hard as she could between his fingers, stopping him in his track. She saw a fire rage behind his icy eyes; anger swelling like she'd never seen before. She wanted it. "This little meat sack means the world to me." She growled lowly, dragging Thorne under the protection of her leaning body with one hand, never once dropping Abraham's eyes. "If you ever touch him, I'll plant this knife so deep in your balls that it'll be scratching your back."

"I would love to see you try." Abraham snapped, every muscle in his body tightening, readying for a scrap.

Sneering, River replied. "Keep on reaching for him and I'll be happy to give you a demonstration, honey."

"River." It was Clark'e voice that broke the silence, only then making River remember that the two of them weren't alone. Not only that, she had stabbed the floor of the boat.

Quickly, she grabbed her knife and tucked it into her belt, swinging Thorne up into her arm and stormed out onto the boat's deck. She had to get away from _him_.

What the hell had she been thinking?

She was threatening a man that was nicknamed the god damn Night King for crying out loud, she was all but begging to be butchered. "Fuck." She hissed, realising quickly that she was getting rained on. "Shit. Wank. Fucking bollocks. Balls."

No matter how much she cursed, it was useless. She was slowly coming to realise what she wanted, or at least part of what she wanted. Did she want to fuck Abraham or stick a knife through his eye? That was the real question.

Thorne, unaware of it all, simply screamed up into River's face then burrowed into her coat as much as he could. She wrapped him up to keep him warm, nowhere near ready to go back in from the rain. Sighing and raking her free hand over her face, she decided that she needed to be alone, even from Thorne. She took her coat off and swaddled him loosely enough that he could clamber out and follow her but not so loosely that he would fall out, then she went to the control room and stowed him away under the wheel, stroking his neck as his eyes fluttered tiredly and she told him that he was a good boy. She waited a minute before going back into the rain, this time without a coat.

Slowly getting more and more drenched, she went to the back of the boat and climbed down to where the motor was, lowering herself carefully to straddle it so that he legs were in the water. It was stupid, she knew, and all it would take was a single carnivorous animal to swim past and take a liking to her legs, but she wanted the water. She wanted the calm that it held. So she didn't care, after all, it would be a quick death in the water as far as she could tell.

For a few minutes she sat there in silence before a small scream that could only be Thorne sounded, making her chuckle and sigh, letting her head drop forward. "What's wrong, Thorne?" She asked, wondering if the fawn had known that she was distressed.

"He's my meat shield." Came the voice of one Abraham.

River spun immediately, drawing her knife once more only to see Abraham lowering himself a few feet away from her, placing Thorne down from one big hand and letting him potter tiredly over to River who immediately scooped him safely into her arms "I thought I made myself pretty clear on where I stood about you going near-"

"Stop." Abraham commanded, some powerful tone in his voice making River obey. She knew then which of the two aforementioned options she wished to take with Abraham. "Just stop."

"Look-"

"I don't wish to fight with you, River." Gently, Abraham let his legs touch the water without breaking the top layer before thinking better of it and pulling himself a little further from the lip of the boat. "How deep is this water?" He asked her as if they hadn't just been threatening one another.

Sighing, River thought about it before answering. "I don't know, probably at least thirty feet. Could be as deep as two hundred or more."

"Feet?" Abraham asked, brow raised in the night. "I do not know this measurement."

River, amused, chuckled then let her laughter die. "You don't know feet but you know what a hero complex is?" She asked, looking sideways at him. He had clearly gotten ready to sleep before coming out to her, wearing a thin pair of pants that his thick thighs easily filled and a long sleeved sleep shirt that must have belonged to a giant to look as large as it did on him. His attire was oddly cute somehow. "A foot is, well Thorne is about a foot tall, maybe a foot and a half. You're about six and a half feet tall, maybe closer to seven."

"So a foot is not just on the end of your leg? Is that foot the same size as a foot? If so, how, as we all have different sized feet?"

"Feet are... I don't know, they're like this big." She moved her hands to show a foot, but now questioning the unit she was unsure. "Maybe this?" She moved them again. "It doesn't matter." She decided, shaking her head. Then, with a sigh, she looked at Abraham who was smiling softly. Had she really been about to stab him? "Do I make you as mad as you make me?"

Chuckling, he leaned back onto his elbows and shrugged. "I don't believe that anything angers anybody as much as I anger you." He laughed, then allowing his face to sober somewhat. "I think that the day that we met, during the meeting in Skaikru lands with Wanheda, you joked about my making things sound easy. I was unsure at the time whether I wanted your head or your... well-"

"My what?" River smirked, watching the man shift uncomfortably in the darkness only the smirk a second later when he caught sight of her face. "Did you decide?" She then asked, wondering how to get past the fire that he seemed to stoke.

Nodding, Abraham stood and held out a hand. Cautiously, River took it. She knew that he wouldn't help her up just to stab her but the option was definitely there. "I think that your head should probably go last."

"So what does that make first?" River found herself cocking her head and biting her lip, both of which she never did. She still couldn't believe how close to turning his hand into a kebab she had been less than fifteen minutes before.

Drawing her into his muscular body, Abraham chuckled. "Allow me to show you."

* * *

 **So, here we have the end of Chapter Eleven. Thoughts? Feelings? Anything from anyone is massively appreciated so I'd like to give a massive thank you to silentmayhem, the two guest reviews and to mainetaz for the reviews left so far, it may not seem like it but the couple of suggestions given have greatly effected River and her thoughts etc.**

 **Also, I'd like to apologise profusely for my attempt to write that little "cute" part at the end. I won't lie, I didn't plan on Abraham and River fighting at all this chapter but when I woke up at dawn's ass crack, I felt like crap after having a vile dream about a loved one and to be honest I wasn't feeling great about writing positive stuff so I just sort of churned it out and began to enjoy myself as it went, so as cringy as that last bit is it's meant to be some kind of stupid peace offering for the otherwise dull then stupid chapter. We're so super close to the good stuff now though and I do believe that this is (hopefully) my longest chapter to date!**

 **So, everyone have a great Saturday and I'll be back by Friday with Chapter Twelve!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Alrighty then, a huge thanks for the review I got for the last chapter and for the couple of new readers who have chosen to follow this story. I think things are beginning to come together more in the way that I'd hoped now and (hopefully) I'm getting more used to writing dialogue. It's still not great but I'm definitely getting there so thank you for being patient with me. This chapter isn't very long at all at about two and a half thousand words but I'm pretty happy with it since (I won't lie) I wrote it in the last couple of hours as this week has been relatively hellish for my family. Next week's will be bigger and better though, that I promise!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve**

It took approximately two seconds of looking up into Abraham's eyes, standing in his arms, before River realised that something was wrong. She even shocked herself, thinking that she wouldn't notice anything that wasn't him. However, she noticed all too quickly that her laboured breathing, as incredibly handsome as Abraham was, wasn't his doing.

His face changed only a second later from his smouldering look to eyes that showed nothing but fear.

"Radiation." River gasped, shoving him hard towards the door to the lower deck.

Abraham didn't look like he understood, but he moved all the same. He gasped, scared, and grabbed at his throat with one hand, using the other to grab River's shoulder. River, in turn, grabbed Thorne by all that she could which ended up being one of his back legs. She hoisted him up roughly into her arms, ignoring the screams of protest.

By the time they made it to the door, she could hear the airlock's doors sliding shut. They sounded heavy and as if they dragged. Neither of them would be able to force them open if no one was able to open them from the controls.

Once they were down the small flight of stairs, which admittedly they stumbled down, they crashed into the thick glass doors to see everyone else inside the room as the decontamination jets sprayed their contents of a foamy solution around the room, all of which evaporated into the air a second later.

"Hey!" River roared, thumping her palm against the glass loudly. It was a mere three seconds before Octavia noticed the two of them, by which time Abraham had become woozy. By the time Octavia reached Kane, pointing and yelling towards River and Abraham, Abraham had all but passed out. It didn't make sense to River that a man so large would be brought down by the radiation so quickly, nor did it make sense when a spot of blood began to grow on his face, soon accompanied by others.

"Open the fuck up." She hissed as she too began to feel a little drowsy.

Together, Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia all rushed to the small control panel by the door but it wasn't much use as they desperately jabbed at buttons. It was Raven who saved the day, by which time River's vision was blurring and she couldn't hold Abraham's weight. She passed out rather promptly, falling and very nearly breaking one of Thorne's legs, not that she'd know that.

Bellamy and Octavia were the first out of the doors when they finally opened. Neither of them thought as they grabbed the two passed out before them. They dragged, thankfully pulling the screaming Thorne through the door too as they then shut it immediately. Bellamy all but punched a large red button that had the decontamination sequence starting all over again.

"Their clothes." Octavia growled as the jets began to spray again, rough flipping River onto her back and lifting the wet shirt just enough to expose her stomach. "Start it again, their clothes might have trapped the radiated air."

And so they did it all again. They decontaminated another three times before they were satisfied.

There was a silent hour or so before Abraham woke with a wheezing cough, another half a one before River woke, during which time Raven and Kane worked on figuring out what the hell had happened. Monty loaded more decontamination canisters into the system with the help of Jasper. Indra and Tekken started a controlled fire in the conveniently placed fire place that thankfully had some kind of filtering system that let the smoke out but let nothing else in. It took Raven a few minutes of tinkering but she got it working.

"So, what the hell happened?" River asked, her throat sore from having breathed in the radiated air. She had Thorne curled up on her lap while she sat between Indra and Octavia to warm up by the fire in fresh dry clothes.

Sighing, Raven threw a hand up in an unsure gesture. "We have no idea." She admitted with a humourless laugh. "We're in the same spot we've been in for hours and only now it hits. It makes no sense. The only logical explanation is that maybe the wind rolled it in, however there's not even a damn draft out there."

"The rain?" Abraham croaked, his voice hoarse and sounding utterly painful.

River shook her head at him. "If it was the rain, no one in here would have felt it. It was in the air, we couldn't breathe."

"In this crazy world, it probably just rolled in with the tide." Jasper laughed, taking a swig of Monty's famous moonshine.

Abraham stood angrily. "You find this amusing?" He snarled, the pain and sheer fury in his voice sobering the boy before him immediately. "You find it funny that we can no longer venture outside?"

Quickly, River stood and gave Abraham the hardest glare that she could muster in half a second. "He was just joking-"

" _This_ is not a joke." Abraham stated, motioning to his now blistering body and face.

"What if he's right?" River suggested, getting a confused noise from Jasper and a raised brow from Abraham. "Look, I know he was joking, but what if it really did roll in with the tide? At the lake I get fog when it's been a cold night but the sun chases it away in the morning, what if the ocean gets fog now? Surely we can't rule it out?"

"We can't rule anything out." Kane decided, his kind, worn face smiling gently at everyone. "From now, I'm proposing that no one leaves the safety of the first airlock without their hazard suits on. If any of Raven's devices indicate that the air is safe again then we can figure things out from there, but I think that the safest course of action would be to follow any safety protocol that we can muster."

And so the suits were donned. Everyone pulled them on over their normal clothes, leaving the helmets by the door and some keeping the top half of their suits tied around their waists to avoid being too hot. Luckily, the night was cold.

Kane proposed sleeping in shifts, and so it was decided that two people would stay awake and wake another two every two hours until the morning. No one had any problems with that as a solution and soon enough River was sitting beside Tekken on the couch that smelled of death; they had both opted for taking first watch and no one had said anything in protest.

"What was it like?" Tekken asked, quiet awe in his voice. River, confused, raised a brow in question, unzipping her suit and letting the top pool around her waist. "The sky. Where you were raised. What was it like to live in the sky? Like a star."

Smiling softly, River leaned back against the couch. For someone who had taken lives, Tekken seemed to her to be a sweet young man. He had the awe and wonder of a child, yet the hands of someone who had not lead an easy life. "The sky was cruel." She decided after a moment of thinking. She knew that the others could all still hear them, but she didn't care. She didn't care if Kane heard, if Clarke heard, if Abraham heard. River had always spoken her mind and she wasn't going to stop now. "Down here, everyone is free. There are possibilities. Up there, every wrong act was punishable by death. Men and women were killed, suffocated on un-breathable air, for trying to save their children. They died the same indiscriminate death as murderers as if they were nothing more."

With wide eyes, Tekken's from furrowed, he looked taken aback. "And yet you all say that we are savages?"

Scoffing, River chuckled and nodded. "We like to think that we're better than your people because the deaths that we dealt required minimal contact with the victim. We call you monsters when you run someone through with a sword for killing one of your own, yet when one of our own tries to take medicine for their sick family members, we throw them into the abyss and tell ourselves we can wipe our hands clean of their blood."

"That is- that is barbaric." Tekken decided, crossing his legs beneath him and leaning toward River as if to tell a secret. "It cannot have all been bad though? Living beneath the stars? Between the sun and the ground?"

"It wasn't all bad." River agreed, because it really wasn't. "Everyone up there, on the Ark, they were all hard working. Everyone, even those with their own agenda, knew that coming down here was the best thing for us. See, Clark, Raven, Bellamy, all of the first hundred, they don't know what it was like. The last few days before we came down. It was horrible. People were scared, trying to save oxygen for breathing, so they were signing up to die-"

"To die?" Tekken exclaimed, eyes wider than ever. "There was so little oxygen to breathe that they went insane? They wanted to die?"

"No." River shook her head. "There was so little that they wanted it to last. They wanted every single breath to count, so they signed up and everyone on the list said goodbye to their loved ones and entered a room where the vents were closed and no more air was let inside. It was a relatively painless death from what I believe, something that we all thought was necessary. Sadly, it was less that a number of minutes later, when they were all dead, that we got a signal from the ground. A signal that said it was safe to come down."

"And they were all dead?"

"All of them. Over three hundred."

"That is terrible. Truly."

Sighing, River leaned back against the couch and nodded with a sad smile. She picked up an already sleeping Thorne carefully and laid him across her lap, aware of Indra's eyes boring into her along with a couple of other pairs.

"Were any of your loved ones in there?" Tekken asked, this time with a soft, gentle tone as if he was approaching a wounded animal.

River shook her head in reply, no. "My boyfriend and I, Matt, we were going to go in together. Neither of us wanted to wait for the Ark to burst into flames. We were scared and wanted a simple way out with a painless death where we could go out together. His parents too. Just as we were about to sign up, he panicked. He was scared about what death would bring. Truthfully, I didn't want to die for others. I don't have that kind of honour; if I'm going to die then it'll be on my own terms though so that's why I agreed. Before long we were out of the line and I was comforting him through a panic attack."

"A panic attack?"

River forgot that some of the terms she used would be foreign concepts to the Grounders. "Uh, it's where all the panic comes to the surface and you can't breathe. Can't think straight. He just couldn't calm down, couldn't make a decision. I couldn't let him sign his life away when he couldn't even know what for."

"And so he lived?"

"Until we came to Earth." River nodded, realising that this was the first time the whole day that she'd thought of Matt. She chanced a glance at Abraham to see him in the dim light, sitting on his bedroll, look at her already. Being with him had clearly helped to occupy her mind, even if their time was spent arguing and being burned by the damned air. Was he a good idea? She didn't know.

"And then?"

She snapped her attention back to Tekken, quickly thinking through their conversation to see where they were at. Ah yes, Matt. "And then he died a stupid death." She admitted lowly, sighing roughly.

"A painful one?"

"Tekken." Indra hissed, even she could see the pain swelling in River.

Smiling and chuckling, River noted that Tekken was still just a boy. He was a boy unlike any other who could remember every path that he had ever walked down, could map every route he'd ever taken and, just like many other boys, he was curious about death. "He didn't die painfully." River told him, seeing the slightly embarrassed look on his face. "He died quickly. It was gruesome but it was a better death than some got."

Nodding, Tekken seemed to accept this answer, though he still looked curious. "What is the worst death that you have seen?"

Chuckling at his curiosity, River thought it through. It was odd for sure but she was enjoying talking with Tekken.

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Once River's two hour shift was done, Tekken took his bedroll to the other side of the room while she took the death couch since no one else could stand it. She slept deeply, though when she woke a few hours later she still felt tired and utterly drained of energy.

"Is your suit off?" She asked Kane, her voice groggy and still a little hoarse as she took in the scene before her. Kane and Indra were knelt either side of a barrel with cards in their hands. Kane was smiling while Indra looked somewhat furious.

Smiling back at River, Kane turned back to Indra and slapped a card on the makeshift table, laughing loudly when she snarled something in Trigedasleng. "It is indeed." He answered, cursing under his breath when Indra placed a card of her own down with a smirk. "Your theory of the air changing with the night is looking more and more likely." He added, not looking away from his game.

With a grumble and a groan, River stood from the couch to see Octavia and her horse were stood between the two Rovers while she brushed it and it ate, though no one else was below deck with the four of them. Even Thorne had skipped off.

Her first order of business was to find that skippy bastard and make sure he hadn't drowned somewhere. Naturally, she found his curled up on the coat that she had wrapped him in the night before and earned herself one of his greeting screams. At the wheel, above where Thorne was now standing and skipping clumsily over to River, stood Clarke and Raven. Together they were studying a map while River shucked her protective suit and folded it.

"We on course?" River questioned once she noticed the slightly burrowed brows on the girls.

Sighing, Raven turned and pointed to the map. River took that as an invitation and stepped closer to examine it. "Okay, so this is where we are, okay?"

"Sure."

"Right, and last night when we put the anchor down, we just circled an approximate area because, well, because there was no land to tell us if we were close."

"Okay." She really wasn't seeing what was so confusing.

"Now look there." River's eyes followed Clarke's outstretched hand and to be completely honest she almost crapped herself.

"We haven't moved?" She asked, feeling something in the pit of her stomach that only intensified when Clarke and Raven shook their heads. "So... _it_ moved?"

" _It_ is an island." Raven muttered. Islands don't move!"

"Well," River started, looking out at the land that they were fast approaching. "I guess this one does. We should get inside and suit up, looks like we might be docking sooner than we thought."

* * *

 **Well... not too bad? Whether you love it, hate it or just don't care about it, please do tell me! Feel free to either review or message, I don't mind either way and I'm happy to answer any questions or anything else.**

 **Have a great day and thank you for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**So, I'd like to start this chapter with an apology. I didn't update last week and honestly that's because I hadn't finished the chapter. I was going to leave it until tomorrow and just publish it with Chapter Fourteen but I might not have time to update tomorrow until quite late at night so I'm posting this one now on the off-chance that tomorrow may be a no-go and Fourteen might come on Saturday. I'll try my utmost not to continue being late, I've just got a couple of things slowing me down as of late. Again, super sorry and I'll try not to be late again.**

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 **Thirteen**

One of the few things that could always be counted on was time. Time waited for no one, it bent for no one and it was forever constant. Time was, for all intents and purposes, reliable. The issue, however, was that Clarke was the only one with a watch, a watch which was covered by her protective suit and the moving island -yes, _moving_ \- twisted, turned and wouldn't stay at the same angle for love nor money. No one knew the time and so no one knew whether it was safe to trust the reader and remove their suits or if night was nearly there and it was wiser just to use more oxygen.

Upon docking on what had been somewhat affectionately named Shifty Isle, the eleven of them suited up and bundled into the Rovers only to realise that the beach which they could drive onto ended rather abruptly and gave way to thick woodland with no obvious vehicle access.

"We need to keep our weapons ready." Bellamy stated once they'd all gotten back out of the cars in favour of walking across the beach, lifting his gun as if to prove a point.

River, never having fired a gun, held her rifle as if it would bite her. They had all been given one and she understood the basic mechanics of it, but she had to admit to being intimidated a little by it. She would have been much more comfortable with her knives, just as she knew Octavia and the grounders would have been, but hand to hand combat or close quarters combat had a higher risk of their suits being caught and ripped which could turn out to be just as lethal as any blade.

"We should split into two teams, five go one way, six go another-"

"We should do no such fucking thing."

The commentary between Bellamy and Octavia -in that order- had been amusing at first, though River had soon grown tired of both it and the stink that the oxygen tank was pumping into her suit. Raven had assured everyone that the smell was normal and was just the smell of the improvised tanks that they'd had to use, but it truly was vile. Indra seemed ready to yank her suit off more than once.

The best part of the whole thing for River was seeing the grounders in the suits. They all looked ridiculous, especially Tekken. The other two didn't look too bad, just murderous, but Tekken? That poor kid had been grinning from the second he'd zipped himself up. He was fascinated by the whole thing and just hadn't stopped smiling. Tall, deadly grounder with a huge grin stuck inside a puffy white suit? Hilarious. So naturally, she glanced between the three of them every time Octavia and Bellamy became too much.

River, not wanting to be dragged into any arguments, stayed still and alert until the decision was made. At some point she noticed Abraham step a step or two loser to her, though he too had his game face on. Whatever little crush she had for him, she decided in that moment that it would stay on the boat. She couldn't afford to let her guard down for even a second when she didn't know she was safe, none of them could.

It was finally decided that the group would split into two teams, one male and the other female. It was easier that way just to have the decision made.

As the group split, River raised her rifle and kept her eyes on the treeline that they were fast approaching. Something about it all didn't feel right, even the ground felt odd. If she had looked away for even a second, she would have seen the quick glance from Abraham, but she didn't. He was just as confused as she was, knowing that he hardly knew her yet seemed to feel something that wasn't just lust. It wasn't just her body that attracted him, though her body certainly helped. He hadn't felt _more_ before, so this new feeling, this warmth, this tingling, he had to decide whether to follow it or to squash it. Perhaps it was for the best that they were apart.

He walked behind Kane and Bellamy, just beside Tekken yet in front of Jasper and Monty. Never before had he seen sand and muddy woodland meet so abruptly in his life. For all of the summers that he had lived, it had never even been something that had crossed his mind and yet there he was, one foot in sand while the other stepped onto the sodden earth of the woods. It felt wrong.

For so long, he and his people had believed that any of them who so much as held a gun would bring death upon their people from the mountain. He didn't know whether that was true at all, but he knew that the mountain, slain by Wanheda, posed no threat to them now. That didn't, however, help the uneasiness in his stomach. This uneasiness wasn't caused by River. It was the pure discomfort that came with a gun. He understood that he had to point it and pull a tiny lever, but it seemed wrong somehow to him that killing, taking a life that in a single instant you couldn't determine as innocent or guilty, should be so easy.

"We should not have docked here." He stated, the sickness in his stomach growing as the island literally rocked and swayed. "This was not our objective."

"It wasn't." Bellamy agreed, holding his gun much more comfortably. "We need to check this place out, though. There might be something her we can use."

"There could also be something here that fancies us for a next meal." Abraham argued, uncomfortable. He couldn't help but think that as the tallest, should anything swoop down to attack, he would be the first to die. He certainly didn't like that thought.

There was no talking for a good little while after that. Tekken seemed annoyingly happy to Abraham considering that they were not only off course but almost definitely in danger.

Having done some less than exemplary stuff in his time, Abraham wasn't afraid to die, no, he sure didn't want to die on _Shifty Isle_ or anywhere else with a ridiculous name. As soon as the name had been declared, his first concern had been what exactly the word "shifty" meant as he had been yet to encounter it, then he had thought that the name was stupid. They were on a stupid island that somehow moved and wasn't on the map and the very idea of ever speaking the name of the place again made him shiver uncomfortably.

It took almost an hour of walking before anything even remotely interesting happened, that being that Kane tripped and worried that he may have ripped his suit. He lay on the ground for nearly five minutes while Bellamy opened a small fixing kit and the two men moved slowly to ensure that the suit wasn't damaged or at least that the damage would be seen if there was any. The whole ordeal greatly amused Abraham. The Sky People, although annoying at time, were amusing. They were like functioning babies. They could walk, talk, run, but they couldn't fight, they used machines to do their killing and their seemed to worry about death as if it was the worst thing that could happen to their souls.

Sadly for Abraham but luckily for Kane, the suit was in perfect condition and so the walking resumed. On the one hand, the woods began to seem almost familiar after so long, the trees blending into one another, the naturally occurring paths twisting and winding clearly. The first sign of life other than the plants came in the form of a bird. It was a small bird, one that would easily be crushed in a single of Abraham's large hands, feathers as black as coal that faded into grey as smooth as ash. It was beautiful, small and quick as it flitted from tree to tree, looking inquisitively between the six men.

"It's not afraid of us." Jasper stated as the six of them grouped together while it flitted around them. "Cautious, but not afraid."

Chuckling, Tekken clasped the other boy's shoulder in a friendly gesture that seemed to shake them both as the island swayed. "I believe, my friend, that it has never been hunted. It sees no cause to fear us."

"So that means there are no people here?" Bellamy reasoned.

"None that hunt." Abraham countered calmly, ripping his eyes from the bird to look back to the trees. Being a Trikru warrior -well, not really a warrior- had its advantages, such as recognising where would be best for archers and such to hide in order to attack. "Perhaps this bird is too quick to catch. We have similar animals, a small rabbit, which we do not hunt as they are much to quick."

"We should keep moving." Kane decided, smiling wistfully at the bird once more before turning back to the path and beginning to walk again. "We only have so much oxygen, so I suggest walking for another hour before we turn back."

"Good by me." Came from Bellamy, then nods from Jasper and Monty. Abraham and Tekken simply moved, not needing to verbally announce their agreement.

It felt strange to Abraham, this whole situation. He knew that Heda, especially in her final weeks, would have died for Wanheda and so he knew that he would too, but these people? He was known as the Night King, not the Night Peasant, so yes, it irked him just a little that he had so easily fallen into the routine of following these people. If he could so easily follow strangers, surely others could fall to follow Azgeda? All those icy bastards needed was an army large enough to demand surrender and the coalition, shattered, would have a ruler who defiled everything that Lexa had stood for. They would not bear the flame, they would not be guided by the commanders before them and they would almost definitely be an unfair ruler who would treat others like mere dogs.

Being _Nithaihefa_ , Abraham knew where his rightful place was once all of this was done. Assuming that he lived through it all, it would become his duty to stand and lead Trikru to whatever war Azgeda dragged them all into. He didn't know if he had it in him to command such an army, but he had to. He had to be ready to try, if only to prove himself to Heda. She had believed in him and so now it was his turn to believe in her, to know that she was too smart to waste her breath on a lost cause.

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River decided in that moment that she hated walking. She and the other women had decided to walk along the island'a perimeter so not to get lost. Being able to see the water and not be able to get in, however, was torture. The sun was beating down on them, their suits were acting like saunas they were all shrivelling up like prunes.

"Raven," She growled, successfully getting the other woman's attention. "check the fuckin' air again."

Raven, slick with sweat, turned in her suit only for the slippery material not to turn fully with her, meaning she actually had to move and turn her whole body. "The monitor said it's fine. It's Griffin over here saying not to risk it!"

"River, you were exposed to radiation last night, you can't possibly want to face that again?" Clarke demanded, her voice rising.

Truth be told, they were all getting angry and pissy in the heat. "Clarke, I'm about ten god damn seconds from diving into that water and never resurfacing. What's the point of having a fucking air monitor if we don't trust it? I swear to fuck, I'm roasting and sweating like a pig. I think I'm gonna fill up and drown-"

"We can't all just be taking our suits off! If the air is toxic-"

"If the air is toxic then it won't matter because we'll all die, roasting in the sun like little roast hogs."

And with that, River stepped back and all but yanked her helmet off, fumbling with the mechanisms for a second before she finally ripper it free.

Much to her joy, she raked in breath after clean breath of beautifully crisp, cool air. "The wind." She panted, letting her suit fall and holding her sweaty arms from her side. "My god, the wind." She chuckled, feeling her entire body beginning to cool as the wind rushed against the sweat. She didn't even remotely care how gross it was that she was usign her sweat as a cooling agent, she just groaned and laughed happily when Octavia followed suit, soon followed by Indra, then Raven and finally Clarke.

"How do you think the others are doing?" Octavia asked as they all panted. Even Indra openly heaved clean air in, thankfully unashamed that her body had gone through the same as the others.

"They're shaded in the trees." Clarke supplied with a shrug. "I doubt they'll be too hot in there."

"Well, they had the right idea then." Octavia scoffed, feeling a little envious that they were probably having the time of their lives, feeling all cool and not even remotely too warm. "We should just jump in the ocean. Wet clothes would help in the heat, right?"

"Or we'd all get colds. Soothing? Yes, but maybe dangerous, too."

"It's time to lighten up, Clarke." River grumbled, liking Octavia's idea of jumping into the water very much. Before the blonde could scoff or protest, River kicked off her shoes and pressed a calloused finger to the younger girl's lips. "Lighten up." She stated. "It's not as if the world's ending." And with a wink, she stepped backwards until there was nowhere left to step and into the water she plunged.

* * *

 **Alright, I'll admit I struggled writing this one just because I've not had much time so it's been a bit of a stop and start for nearly two weeks so I'm sorry if it all feels a bit bouncy, hopefully it's alright though. What's anyone thinking of Shifty Isle? Stay a while or move on? You guys think it's safe there? let me know what you're thinking and if there's anything you want to see!  
**  
 **Have a great day and I hope my few English readers voted today if they so wished to!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, no word of a lie I know this chapter is so short but when I split the last one onto two, I was still very much writing a chapter a week for this fic and was very much motivated to keep it going. Since then I got a pretty demanding job and my laptop broke, so here I am having finished that job and fixed my laptop, praying to the gods that it's not too late to revive my little baby over here but honestly I enjoy writing this so much! So yes, please forgive how very short this chapter is and be comforted by the fact that I'm going to try my absolute hardest to start updating again!**

* * *

The water was a sensation unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Sure, River knew the water from her lake and even the sea water that the boat had been on before they left, but by God, this was outstanding. It made no sense that any water could be _better_ than any other water, but this was. There was enough salt to keep her afloat yet not enough to hold her directly on the surface. The balance was perfect and the view was stunning.

It wasn't long before Octavia began to look somewhat envious of the confidence in the water that River had, though after her run in with a literal water monster she had little want for jumping into unknown waters anytime soon. Suggesting getting in had even been sort of an ironic suggestion as she knew that Clarke would shoot it down.

Curious as to how exactly Shifty Isle had become, well, shifty, River decided to take matters into her own hands. "Okay, I'm going down." That was all the warning she gave before taking a deep, filling breath and boosting herself upwards just enough that when she came back down, she went immediately below the water's surface. She swam immediately downward, keeping her hand touching Shifty's edge.

It took her a few seconds before she was comfortable enough to open her eyes, but she didn't regret it once they were open. The island seemed to only go down about another fifteen feet or so and it was _beautiful._ Absolutely stunning.

Selfishly, River took as long as her lungs could manage to simply look at it all before she allowed herself to rise back to the surface, gasping for air with a huge smile once she resurfaced. She couldn't even speak of the beauty before at least two pairs of hands grabbed her shoulders and yanked her upwards.

"Are you stupid?" Octavia hissed. "There could have been anything out there-"

"It's beautiful." River chuckled, brushing Octavia's comment up and shooting to her feet, grasping the younger girl's shoulders enthusiastically. "Seriously, you all need to see it. It's amazing down there! The- the whole island, it's all just roots! I didn't go far enough down, just let me go back down once and I can get a better look-"

"What? No, we're all staying on the freaking land-"

"Maybe we should let her-"

"Clarke-"

"Octavia-"

"Yeah, Octavia, come on, it's-"

"Are you for real-"

"Guys!" Raven's voice, stern and loud, brought the others to her attention immediately. Even Indra looked impressed. "We shouldn't even be on this island. It's not on our course and we're only here because it was in our way. It shouldn't be here and neither should we. I say that if River wants to swim, we let her. Once we meet back up with the guys then we decide whether or not it's worth staying here longer or just carrying on. I mean, it's not as if we're out here to save the world- Oh, hang on, that's exactly what we're here for!"

With a snap of her fingers and a wink, River made her decision aloud. "All I'm hearing is that I'm aloud back in the water." And so with that, she was gone once more, this time taking longer to look closely at Shifty's structure. It was clear that there must have been some seriously tight knotting system towards the surface since the sand all held in place and for the most part the island was sturdy, though many roots were reaching out into the sea as if this little plot of land had moved itself from another and they were still reaching to get back. Perhaps it, just like most of them, wanted to simply return home.

This time when she resurfaced, she leaned onto the island's sandy shore with her forearms, gaining raised brows from the others who, in an effort to cool off, were slowly but surely dipping their feet into the water around her. This is moment during which, on the Ark, she would have pushed Matt onto his bed and used him as a pillow as she talked through everything aloud. He was always amazing when it came to just letting her ramble and briefly, she felt nothing but disgust in herself as she wondered if Abraham would tolerate such a thing. Would he lie there and play with her hair as she rambled about the state of the world? She highly doubted it.

Realising that she had been floating with her sad face donned for a little too long with raised brows in her direction, she quickly spouted some bull shit after clearing her throat. "It just sucks that if the world ends, we won't get to come back here." Well, at least it was true bull shit.

"The world isn't going to end." Clarke stated, her voice firm but fading. She seemed to already be losing some spark. Not so much losing hope, but she was definitely not one hundred percent about the whole mission. "We're going to get off this damn island once we're back with the guys, we're going to figure out where the hell we are, then we're going to save this god forsaken Earth and kill anyone or anything that gets in our way."

"Not much of a speech, but I'm in." River shrugged with a smirk. Their little band may have been made of misfits, delinquents and killers, but River knew in her heart of hearts that if anyone could save this damned place, it would sure as shit be them.

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"Faster!" Abraham bellowed, grabbing the shoulder of a stumbling Monty and thrusting the young man forward as their legs worked over time, their suits long since torn by the snapping branches on the trees.

"Which way?" Kane's voice was panicked and very clearly directed at Tekken. The unconscious warrior slung over Abraham's shoulder was a perfect irony. They were lost and their map was out for the count.

Snarling, Abraham pushed harder, refusing to die on Shifty Fucking Isle. "Out of the woods! Just out!" His English came harder to him in moments like these when there was nothing but panic feeding him and those around him. He wished so desperately that he could remember all of the words that usually came relatively easily to him if things went sideways.

The six men, five conscious and one in a land of dreams, ran for their lives. Their feet pounded the swampy earth beneath them, tearing thin roots that dared to snare them and tripping on larger ones that succeeded. Every breath felt like an impossible feat and every footfall was a deadly mission. They couldn't afford to fall or even to step uncertainly, they could only sprint for their lives and pray to make it out alive.

It was a long, tiring run that quite frankly drained Abraham of everything that he was by the time they finally saw the rays of hopeful light beating in from a hole in the treeline. The terrain had become steep and the water had near reached their waists by the time they finally reached the sand. About a half a mile further across they could all hear the women scream. Strangely, it was cries of "River, no!" that spurred Abraham onward.

With their speed and waning stamina, it took them three hard minutes to reach the others who barely seemed to notice them until Abraham noticed something. River. She wasn't there. Unashamed by his actions, he grabbed a terrified Raven Reyes and demanded to know where River was.

"Th-the roots!" Was all the tech could muster.

"The roots are moving!" Clarke yelled, frantic eyes watching the water. "She's caught, someone needs to grab her!"

That was when it became apparent. Well, not entirely, but Abraham knew that the stupid woman whom he wanted to strangle one minute and fuck the next would not have resisted the water. Of course she would have gone downward, so when Shifty began to sink, of course she got caught.

And that was all it took for the not so gentle giant to find himself falling into the water, his lack of buoyancy dragging him down beside the roots in time to see River not ten feet further down, her right wrist trapped between two thick, moving roots while her left hand struggled weakly with a knife that was doing little good.

Abraham had never figured himself to be the kind of man who saved the girl. He knew death and he knew that for so long it was all that he could deliver. Yet here he was, sinking in the sea to save the girl from her own stupidity.

He reached her in mere seconds, getting very little other than a weak glance from the girl before him who was losing consciousness quickly and would surely soon succumb to the sea. He couldn't let that happen. He had to know what it meant to save this ridiculously infuriating woman who he would surely want to simultaniously smack and kiss for being so very reckless.

His far superior muscle mass and lifetime of blade training made the root little work for him. He knew that it was too think to cut, so he simply put every ounce of his chest and biceps to work, forcing them apart until she all but fell from their grasp into his own. Not being able to float meant that he couldn't swim back up, so climbed with all of his might, feeling River limp against him ever as he dragged her ashore and wheezed for air.

Confused by her lack of movement, he quickly found himself at the conclusion that he had been late. Too slow. Too weak.

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 **Well, I'm hoping that wasn't too bad and someone out there still wants Chapter Fifteen to go up! It'll be coming either way so really I'm just hoping that there's someone here to read it. Anyhow, please please please leave me reviews, criticism, suggestions and absolutely anything because it's super important and I've been out of the game for a few months so I need to know if I'm losing my writing style etc.**

 **Have a smashing day!**


	15. Chapter 15

**So, given that the last chapter took so very long to upload (I think it was at least five or six months), I thought that my apology could come in the form of Chapter Fifteen! Granted, there isn't necessarily much going on and it's not the longest of chapters, but I started it this morning and four hours later it's complete and honestly I'm relatively happy with it and I feel that it flowed relatively well since it all came to me in just one sit down.**

 **Okay, so I hope it's alright and ties in well enough! I was going to leave it for a week or so and let the tension rise but honestly I can't actually help myself and simply had to get this up right away!**

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"I'm sorry." He repeated for the sixth time, arms wrapped around her. Her body was freezing cold still despite having been out of the water for well over a half hour by now. She didn't shiver. She didn't shake. She didn't move. "This is my fault." He told her, wishing more than anything for her to turn in his arms and snap at him. He was already missing her fiery outbursts. Even her little meat sack, Thorne, knew that something was wrong.

There was nothing but silence as Abraham had carried her onto the ship. No one said a word when he moved her death scented couch to the furthest point of the room, turned it to face the wall and lay himself down with her in his arms, limp. "I wasn't strong enough." He stated, though his words fell on deaf ears.

Despite her lack of movement, he knew what he had to do. He began stripping her of her sodden clothing, being careful with her wrist before he too began to shed his own clothing, leaving only her underwear between them as he yanked her covers over them and barked an order in Trigedasleng at Indra to grab more. She complied almost immediately, seeming just as shocked as everyone else as _Nithaihefa_ lay in all of his naked glory, scars, tattoos and everything else on display without a care, wrapped around a young woman who had been nothing but a prick in his side.

" _Light the fire._ " This time, it was Octavia who moved at his command, all but falling onto the wood.

For a good long while, no one made much of a move. Abraham held River close, ignoring how her own body temperature clawed his own right down. The others huddled around the camp fire until Clarke sighed and stood, walked over to Abraham and spoke. "Abraham, she was under too long. I need to check her over again-"

"You checked her on the sand."

"I did, but I need to monitor her. I have to keep an eye on her."

"I shall keep her warm, Wanhe-"

"You swore to follow me, no?"

Confused, Abraham looked away from River for the first time in order to cock his head at Clarke. "I did." He confirmed tightly.

Nodding, Clarke replied, "Then do as I say and trust that I want River to live. I don't want us to lose her in the night, especially once the radiation rolls in. She needs to be kept as healthy as possible just in case she gets caught in anything again."

Logically, he knew that she was right. He knew that he, as a warrior, had to listen to Clarke. He had prompted his people to foll her and he had pushed her to lead them all. He had to follow. Equally, he knew that he didn't want to open his arms. He didn't to let her go now only to watch her die under someone else's hand. The fear that had exploded in his chest when he'd dragged her from that water was something that he had never felt before in his entire life. He sure as hell didn't ever want to feel it again.

However, he knew that her best chance was with Clarke. "You can check her here?" He asked her, his muscular arms and torso all but plastered to the unconscious young woman.

Sighing, Clarke nodded. Abraham wondered briefly if the woman before him was thinking of their commander. He knew that she would have clung to her for all their love was worth in this very situation, so perhaps that was why she allowed him to stay wrapped ever so protectively around her. He didn't care why, he was just thankful for it either way.

And so, the once mighty assassin lay curled around the woman who gave him such mixed feelings while the lover of his true leader, now his new leader, checked her over, taking her pulse and blood pressure and before long telling him that she couldn't do much more with what little equipment that had and that she'd simply have to check again in a number of hours.

Seeing the usually jovial and fiery brunette like this was very clearly taking its toll on the group. They all seemed to be staying in relative silence out of respect, but when Abraham took to speaking to her quietly, Octavia began to speak in order to give the two what little privacy they could spare.

"You anger me." He muttered into her hair with a small, breathy chuckle. "You are stupid for jumping into that water. Especially stupid, even for one of you Sky People. I believe that even Bellamy would not have done such a thing and I believe him to incredibly stupid."

He didn't know why, but he found himself having to fill the silence. You see, she was usually so very loud even if she was cursing him out or threatening to skin him, but this? This was horrible. He would have given anything for her to turn to him and state that she intended to gut him for undressing her, or that she would hide the hilt of her blade in his eye for mentally calling Thorne a meat bag. Alas, he got nothing.

"When I was a boy," He began, his voice deep with fear and another emotion that he was yet to identify. "I was much the way that you are now. I was not so loud as you are, but I was strong in the way that I thought, especially when I believed that I was right." He went on to tell her about his days doing the dirty work of the commander that came before Lexa who, sadly, had not had the same mind for peace that she did. He told her of the blood that stained his hands and the screams that never left his ears.

It didn't take long before her body had warmed some, though she was still cold to the touch. He decided to let Octavia dress her when the young Second offered. She made a good point about wet underwear that she'd be sure River would prefer to be changed by anyone other than him.

In that time, albeit a short amount of time, Abraham chose to eat. He nodded respectfully to Indra, thankful when the woman with the dark skin and even darker personality chose to be kind and simply say "She's a fighter, that one." and nothing more. They ate together, joined by a woozy Tekken and an uncharacteristically scream-less Thorne. The small, skinny thing wobbled around, seeming more anxious than usual until Abraham plucked him from the floor and held out some food to him.

It dawned on him that the very thing that he and River had yelled at one another about not so long ago was the fact that Thorne was deemed weak for taking food that was handed to him, yet here he stood, feeding that little thing because it _mattered_ to him that it lived. It mattered to him that River didn't wake to find him gone. Her words rang clear in his head. _"This little meat sack means the world to me."_ He couldn't let her meat sack die.

When it came to crawling back into the small couch bed with her, having dressed himself lightly before eating, he was glad to see her dressed and looking warm. Granted, her cheeks were still pale and her lips were an odd shade akin to blue, but she was wrapped up in clothes and bundled up in blankets that he didn't doubt others had spared for her. He was thankful for that, not thinking about what any of this all meant. He didn't want to lie there and question his feelings, he was simply glad that she was alive.

According to Clarke, River had gone down several times and had, over the course of an hour, become entertained watching the colourful fish that weaved between the roots that spanned the length of the island. Apparently though, the last time that she had resurfaced, she'd said that she could have sworn that she'd seen another diver down there and had of course gone back down to check it out. Abraham was shocked stiff by the news but Clarke had assured him that it had probably been a school of skin coloured fish or just her eyes playing tricks on her, maybe even a stray glove. There had been no signs of human life on the island so they had no reason to suspect anything.

It wasn't until Abraham was gently snoring behind River who still lay unconscious that Octavia spoke up and voiced her true concerns. "Do you guys really think there was another person swimming down there?" She asked the group, noting that Indra couldn't have cared less, Tekken was nursing a sore head, Bellamy was absorbed in his food and Jasper and Monty were trying so very hard to be more interested in their card game than get drawn in. "Guys, River's a strong swimmer, you all really think she just stayed still and let that damn island close around her hand? Because I sure don't."

"O," Clarke started with a sigh, leaning toward the younger girl. "I think that we're all on edge, River included. She saw what she wanted to see and when she thought she saw a hand, she decided she had to help. She's a fantastic swimmer, but it could have been anything-"

"Including another person."

"O-"

"Don't _'O'_ me, Clarke!" The brunette snapped, shocking everyone. "I've spent time with her. I _know_ her. She has a damn strong hero complex, we all know that, but I don't doubt what she saw."

"It could have been anything." Raven piped up with a shrug.

"Yeah," Jasper supplied, laying his losing hand down and Monty smirked and took the small chess pieces they were using as wagers. "I mean, we didn't see any signs of people up there before things went sideways, not a single footprint."

"The same way that we hardly notice the tracks of Trikru warriors!"

"People see stuff, Octavia. The world we live in is trying to kill us while we're trying to save it. It's not so crazy to think that she saw some fucking hand-fish or some-"

"A _hand-fish ,_ Bellamy? A fucking hand-fish! Oh my god, are you actually freaking-"

"O-"

"Clarke, I swear to god, the next time you _'O'_ me, I'm gonna-"

"Enough!" The booms, two of them, came from both Marcus and Indra. Their voices were loud, booming and in union, waking Abraham who was easily over the back of the couch, one of River's bone knives in his hand and a confused look on his face.

"I do not care what River did or did not see, we are now on course and the morning shall take us far from this place." Indra's words seemed to be the final say on the matter, scolding the young warriors and leaders like the children that they still were. "Tonight, we rest. We are as safe as we can be for now. Tomorrow, we move with the sun and pray to meet land once more."

" _Safe_ land." Kane added with a gentle smile.

That night, no one woke Abraham for his shift. They decided, just once, to let the man sleep. It was clear to everyone how River and Abraham infuriated one another, and frankly they could all easily relate to that, each of them having someone in their lives at least once who drove them absolutely wild in the most magical way.

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When River woke, her eyes felt heavy as if they'd once been glued shut but the glue had long since dried and flaked away. Her joints felt hard and stiff, allowing for little movement other than a groan of annoyance deep in her chest and a slight turn of her neck only for more annoyance to rise at the fact that she could still only see the wall.

What fully roused her, however, was the grumble that definitely _didn't_ come from her chest.

Alert, eyes wide awake, panic set, she noticed the arms. Arms around her! Who in holy hell would possibly be- "Oh my god." The words left her mouth as a whisper, barely falling from her lips. She could think of only one person on this damn boat who would possibly even dream of laying behind her. But _curling up_ behind her?

Needing her suspicions confirmed, she wriggled none too gently, noting with a gasp that she may have knocked something with her thigh. She didn't care though, she absolutely needed to know.

And then she did.

She looked up at his face and watched as he woke, clearly unaware that she too was awake as he used one large hand to reach up and tousle his messy hair before those ice cold eyes opened and thawed her heart. He was a strange kind of beautiful that she could gladly die at the mercy of. Christ, to die at the mercy of those thighs, well, that would be more than pleasing. Hell, not just those thighs but that chest! Gods, it was so firm as she lifted her hand and splayed it across a single pec, trailing it heavily down-

"You're alive."

Abraham's deep, rich voice woke her from her actions.

Good god, where in hell was that hand going!

"How are you feeling?" He seemed entirely unaware of the embarrassment that wracked her entire body and of the fact that he was wearing only a pair of thin thermal pants that left very _very_ little to the imagination.

Feeling. How was she feeling? "Tired." She answered hoarsely but truthfully, yanking her hand back and making to push herself up onto her elbows only for one of his arms to tighten around her waist as he rose too, all but picking her up as he went. She didn't protest, letting him move them both despite her flushed red face. "how long have I-"

"Clarke informed me that you should rest. She said that you should take things easy and that I should be prepared to help you to do anything from small, menial tasks such as feeding your meat sack to something larger such as carrying you to the bathroom. Do you need to go to the bathroom? I can take you now if you'd like to go."

Was it just River, or was he nervous? Was that a nervous ramble from the mouth of the _Night King_? "I'm good." She answered shortly, wondering if he'd always displayed this nervous energy around her or if it was simply that he was just now displaying it for the first time. "Thank you." She then added, thinking better of her short response.

Nodding, he too seemed to sober to the situation that they were in as well as the exact position they were in. River, wrapped up in his arms, their legs mixed together, chests touching and their breath mingling, not to mention the fact that in all of this River was all but on top of him.

"Not a problem." His voice was deep, strong and comforting. River also happened to find it incredibly sexy, especially when she could feel the rumble in his chest shaking through her own.

Sadly, with a single rock of the boat, River remembered exactly where they were. She remembered the circumstances under which they were on that boat and told herself that the end of the world was no time for any of this. So with that in mind she cleared her throat and made a move to put a little space between them, not seeing the flash of hurt and confusion that he made no move to hide. "So, uh, I'm guessing it's time to fish?"

The air was noticeably thick with tension, both sexual and annoyance. "You're too weak." Abraham ground out, standing and grabbing a couple of shirts, his other pants and the rest of his previously discarded clothes, walking away with them and dressing as he went. "I shall fish. You sleep."

He was gone so quickly that River didn't even really get a look in at his tattoos, though the moonlight caught just right on his scars and caught her breath in her throat that was released only by the scream of Thorne, not wanting to be forgotten in his place on the couch, though River was unsure where he had been before then. "You think I screwed up, huh, bud?" She asked the baby deer, hauling him onto her lap only to have him scream and wriggle out her hold, scampering off after Abraham.

"Gotcha." She grumbled, flopping down with an unceremonious sigh. "Good talk."

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 **Well, good? Bad? Ugly? Beautiful? Please please please feel free to tell me it was amazing, to tell me that you vomited and hated it or to tell me that it was a piss-poor chapter and you want to burn its very being! Just please tell me anything that you're all thinking or feeling about it and make me write faster!**

 **Have a smashing day!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay, so this is most definitely not a long one, but while I had this swirling around in my head and free time, I just couldn't help myself. I had to do it! Seriously, I have very little self control. So, the next few chapters are really just leading up to me figuring out how exactly the whole "Save the World" is going to happen or maybe is going to fail. Whatever, I hope y'all enjoy!**

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It had been a number of days since Abraham and River had almost had a moment. Abraham, in true "fuck you, I'm not hurt" style, studiously ignored River where possible. Long gone were the days of cuddles on the death couch, now there was only room for River's ignored looks of apology and sadness.

River and Octavia had began spending more time together, the two of them sparing carefully on the ship's deck when the sun was out and the radiation was wherever the hell it hid. On occasion, Indra sparred with them, once going as far as to hit River hard enough to send her over the boat's handrail. That was the first time that Abraham looked in her direction, though his eyes were magically elsewhere the second she hauled herself aboard once more and coughed her displeasure.

Abraham never once sparred with anyone, not even with Indra, though he did at one point take to using an extension of a fishing pole to do some stretching, or possibly it was martial arts. Once his shirt came off, River didn't actually care what it was as she watched him from the control room, all but drooling. The tattoos and scars that decorated his torso were oddly delicious and she found herself comparing him to Matt.

Matt was the only man that she had ever loved romantically. He had been a soft, kind idiot who held his heart on his sleeve and a smile on his face. Everything about him had been kind and gentle, even down to his smooth skin that had never known combat or his childish view of the world that was clear in his beautifully expressive eyes. But Abraham? Well, he was another story.

Where Matt was soft, Abraham was rough. Matt had been a gentle lover, taking care of her with a smile and a kiss as soft as the very same animal that she didn't doubt Abraham would crush with his bare hands. She also didn't doubt that he was anything but gentle as a lover. She may only have come as close as an almost-kiss, but she knew in her heart that he was a man that fucked hard and took breath away. She was also certain that those damned cold eyes would be the death of her, never giving away more than he intended and surely giving her some kinds of chills.

He was utterly terrifying and she felt like prey between his jaw. Not now though. Now she just felt cold and not the kind of cold that gave her the most exquisite chills. No, this cold was worse, much worse. He was freezing her out and she knew exactly why. It was her fault and she wanted so badly to kiss and make up, but she couldn't. She just couldn't. The end of the world was no damn time to be falling for anyone, especially not someone with so many depths.

"You're staring."

"Shut up."

Octavia was right though, she had been staring. It wasn't as if he made it easy to look away though.

"Did you and Lincoln ever fight?" River asked as they continued their workout. It was gentle and definitely not too much, though it was still enough that the two women were slightly short of breath and sweating a little.

Scoffing, Octavia pushed herself up onto her hands alone, tucking her elbows into her ribs to keep her body parallel against the boat's rocking floor, soon followed by a shaky River. "All the time." She chuckled, clearly remembering him fondly. "He had a strong moral compass. Would have done anything just because it was right. Got him killed. We fought about how I'd run off and do stupid shit, then about how he'd run off and do even stupider shit. We were a shit show, a dangerous one, but we loved one another so damn much."

Nodding, River balanced for a mere ten seconds before she stumbled forward with a heavy rock of the boat and ended up on her face, her legs following suit and going over her head until her back cracked painfully and she ended up groaning on her back. "Why can't shit just be easy?" She grunted, scurrying back into position, this time facing Octavia rather than just being beside her. "And men?" She huffed, shaking her head. "Fucking men. And me. My stupid mouth."

"I'd have thought men loved your mouth." Octavia teased, effortlessly pushing herself higher until her body was entirely upright on her palms.

"Fuck you." River chuckled, trying to follow her friend's actions only to fall again and this time she stayed lying on her back, huffing. "I wanna make things better, but, like, how?"

"You know how." Octavia scoffed. "Get him alone, pull his pants down and get to sucking that-"

"You're the freaking worst." River rolled her eyes and pretended that she hadn't seriously considered it. "Come on, man, I taught you how to fish. Spit some wise teacher crap my way!"

Sighing, Octavia lowered herself gently until she and River were lying beside one another, chests heaving. "Dude, he's a guy. Flash him. Suck his dick. Let him bend you over something. Literally any of those and the tables turn so hard he's practically in your debt."

"I can't just do that shit, man. The world's ending around us and-"

"And you haven't gotten any dick in like four months, maybe like five or more! Listen, and hear my words, he wants you and you turned him down. Go make his day and make shit right. The world is gonna carry on trying to end itself either way, you might as well take a trip to Bone Town while you're at it."

"Bone Town? A town for bones? Like a cemetery- Oh. Oh! Bone Town! Okay, yeah, sorry, gotcha-"

"Who's going to Bone Town?" Naturally, Raven heard them and plopped down beside them, crossing her legs with a curious grim.

"No one." River immediately found herself beat red and only then noticed that Monty and Bellamy were on their way over, too. No doubt they had heard just as much.

"Oh please!" Raven scoffed, immediately laughing at River's discomfort. "Look, I used to use this shit on Wick all the time-"

"Ew, Raven!"

"Screw you, Octavia, you're suggested it! Anyway, as I was saying, I used to do this all the time. I'd fuck up, we'd fall out, then I'd drop his pant and blow his mind. And by his mind I mean his-"

"Oh my god, I don't need to hear this." River grumbled, rolling onto her stomach and wishing that the world would swallow her whole.

Shrugging, Monty sat beside Raven, followed by Bellamy. "You know, as a guy, I can confirm that this works. Harper moved one of my motherboards while I was on a patrol and it totally messed up the whole thing and I had to redraw my diagram like five times. I was so pissed! But yeah, all it took was a little lovin' and we were fine."

Silence took them all for just a moment before Raven smacked the back of his head, shaking her own. "You're so freaking weird, Green. So weird."

It only took listening to another minute of Raven and Monty bickering like little children before River was on her feet, ignoring the silence that fell upon the group as she walked away from them and in the general direction of tall, dark and gloriously sweaty. Her heart was beating a mile a minute, her palms were sweaty and her stomach was churning uncomfortably.

Mustering up every possible ounce that she had harboured in her body of courage, she swung the single door open that was between them and stepped onto the very same deck which he was on, her feet growing bold and moving more quickly as she approached him until finally she was there, stood before him. Well, technically behind him. She knew that she was anything but a silent walker, so he clearly knew that someone was there and he probably had a pretty good inkling as to who it was. Just as she thought about reaching out and tapping intimidatingly muscular shoulder, he spun, stick in hand and she couldn't help but yelp her surprise and bringing her hand up to protect her face just in time.

Thankfully, he stopped a mere inch short of her cheek that she knew would have bruised like a peach.

He said nothing, simply looked down at her with eyes that held an entire war within their depths. Not trusting herself to say more than a few words, she kept it short. "We need to talk." And then she walked off, calming her breathing as best she could on her way to an empty room.

Imagine her shock when she turned and he hadn't followed. Then she told herself that maybe he was going to follow a second later so that no one questioned why they were entering an empty room together.

Was she really about to suck a dick in the name of peace? Well, yeah she actually kind of was. Was she ashamed? Nope, just nervous as hell and actually slightly turned on.

Yet she was still in there alone.

Was he even coming at all?

She knew that she'd hurt him or offended him or given him some kind of feeling that offended or confused him, but was he really not going to come when she said they needed to talk? Was that not basically code for "drop your pants and thank me later"?

Growing slightly annoyed, she went to stand in the doorway, hoping to see him sauntering toward her with purpose in his stride and a fire in his eyes. However...

Nothing!

When she took another few tentative steps forward, she saw that he'd even gone back to his stupid stick stretches!

"I came here to suck dick, dammit!" She snapped, only then noticing Jasper sat in the corner with Kane and Tekken, the first and last of whom opened their mouths only to close them again when River levelled them with a glare. "Not a fucking word." She grumbled, avoiding Kane's eyes since he had become an odd father figure of sorts to her.

Now she was fuming.

So without warning, she stormed to where Abraham was working out and chose to go for a flying kick that caught him straight in the back as he stretched up, unaware of the assault coming his way. River was lucky to land on her feet as he stumbled forward and spun with frightening speed and a look of utter anarchy in his eyes. She guessed pretty quickly that he was pissed. "Are you sure that you want to start this?" He snarled, fist clenched around his stick.

Seething, River laughed bitterly, not caring about how many others were now staring at them. It was everyone, to be exact. "Oh, now you're talking to me? Fabulous!"

"You just kicked me in the damned ribs, so yes, I am talking to you!"

"Well if only I'd have known that was all it would take!"

"You clearly don't know exactly who you are starting something with-"

"Oh, give me a break, _Nithaihefa,_ king of the fucking night!"

"You must be truly _stupid_ to not fear me! You clearly have absolutely no idea at all of who I am!"

"Oh, of course, Mr. Nobody Understands Me, boo fucking hoo!"

"Must you curse in every sentence? There is no need, it only proves that you have no actual point-"

"My _point_ is that I was going to suck your dick!" Clearly taken by surprise, Abraham fell silent only for River to pounce in his second of weakness and strike, her fist careening into his gut and having him grunt his annoyance and grab her arm in an iron grip. "Fuck you, you stupid fucking Grounder! God, to think that I even thought you could be reasoned with!"

As she carried on trying to fight him, Abraham clearly grew tired and threw her back with force. When she hit the floor with a thud, he realised what he'd done and surged forward, ready to lean over her and help her up. All that stopped him was River's swift kick upward into his crotch that had him yelp and fall to his knees, straddling her leg while he cupped his poor groin in pain as he fell forward and allowed his forehead to his the floor beside her.

Angry, letting her tears fall with little reason to even have them, River shoved him aside and stood, storming off in a huff and kicking a chair along the way.

What the hell had she just done? This wasn't her, she wasn't this emotional wreck who went around attacking people when she didn't get her own way.

She hid in what was was once a kitchen, though the units were long since gone and all that lay in there now was the spare provisions that they'd brought with them, including winter clothing, blankets, food and the sort. Her hiding was successful until she heard the gentle swing of the door opening and closing followed by the soft falls of two feet. Octavia, no doubt.

"Look, I know fucked up. I was meant to suck his dick and make up and I kicked him, whatever, okay? I mean, he just-"

"You make me _so fucking mad_."

The growl, of course, came from Abraham. River spun just in time to gasp, only to see him storming towards her. She had no time to defend herself as one of his hands found her throat and the other the back of her neck as he forced her back until her back smashed painfully into a wall.

She wondered briefly if he was going to punch her, kick her, even strangle her. The same questions seemed to be in his eyes too. And then they weren't.

And then there were only his lips. His lips on her lips. Her lips on his. Their lips, together! She couldn't believe it. Perhaps she was daydreaming? No, that fearsome grip on the hairs at the nape of her neck was _definitely_ not a dream, now was the hand clasping her throat in a way that excited her because she was most definitely at his mercy. But the best part? The way that his entire body ran the length of her own, suffocating her in the only way that she could possibly have wished for.

Meanwhile, on the top deck of the boat, Raven Reyes let out a low whistle with raised brows. "One way ticket to Bone Town, amirite?"

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 **Well? Okay, so in my defence, I'm tired and very much still getting back into the swing of things! Also, I know that of the few readers I have, even fewer are here for the River/Abraham storyline and are in face here for The 100 as a whole, so if it's wanted then I'll try to move the focus from those little lovebirds for a while and focus more on the actual story of this whole ordeal.**

 **As always, please please please review and tell me how I'm doing! I look forward to any feedback, be it criticism or otherwise!**

 **Have a smashing day!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay, first of all I'd like to apologise for saying that I was going to post more often and then going dormant for however long it's been. With that out of the way, I'd also like to add that I know literally nothing about nuclear power, power plants etc and although I don't really get into anything like that in this chapter, when the time comes please don't expect accuracy, just read for the sake of reading and enjoy.**

 **As I've said from the start of this whole thing, I know pretty much exactly where I want this story to go, it's just getting there that may take me some time. So, enjoy, don't judge me too harshly and I hope things from herein are entertaining!**

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When Abraham woke in a nest of coats, scarves and scratchy, woollen blankets, he briefly wondered what could have possessed him to sleep in such a place. The sight of River's naked body, covered only by a thin sheet across the backs of her calves and his left arm across her backside, well, that reminded him. He was sure in that moment that he'd have slept naked on a bed of rose thorns, so long as she lay on the petals beside him.

He found her beautiful in her sleep, even when she made a funny face or when she drooled a little. He wasn't sure how much their night changed between them, but he was sure that he wanted for that night to become a reoccurring scene for them. Perhaps not so much in this room. Perhaps in his own home once their mission was complete. Another thing that he was sure of was that now he'd had her, he could never let her go. Saving the world had never been so appealing, but now? Now he wanted for them to share this world and the bounties that he knew it must have held, if only to counteract the sheer brutality of all they had seen.

Softly, so not to wake her, he placed a calloused hand at the base of her neck, stretching his fingers to feel the strong pulse with a smile. She truly was so very strong. He recalled what felt like a lifetime ago when she stuck a blade between his fingers without a care for who he was. He knew that part of it was stupidity and that it could get her killed in another situation, but he told himself that he would ensure her survival and safety above all else. He respected that part of her that was willing to stand up to anyone when it came to he meat sack or something that she believed in.

Slowly but surely, his hand travelled south until it had reached the very base of her spine where his hand spanned just above her backside, appreciative of the view.

"Pervert." River grumbled, apparently not asleep as she turned her head to face him, a small but adorable look of embarrassment but also happiness upon her usually rather blank face.

Chuckling, Abraham nodded and moved his hand lower yet again. "Indeed." He agreed, giving a gentle squeeze of her buttock to prove his point. He earned a shiver from her and so decided to pull the thin sheet higher over them both, dragging a spare blanket or two too along the way. "Are you cold?" He asked, not wanted her to be displeased in any way. He didn't even wait for her to nod before he shifted himself closer until their skin touched from chest to toe. Although River's toes barely scraped his shins given their height difference.

Moving to him to the first time, River wasted little time and shamelessly wrapped her arms around him, snuggling into his chest with one hand on his back and the other boldly feeling his firm ass as she gave an appreciative gasp before bringing it up to join her other hand with a smirk. They really were quite the pair.

They stayed like that, close and comfortable, wrapped in covers and coats, remaining naked beneath the whole lot, for approximately six and a half minutes of blissful silence filled with only the sounds of them breathing and Abraham's occasional sigh of contempt when River snuggled deeper into his side. However, with their time up, there was a talk to be had.

"What you saw." Abraham's voice was measured, careful even. River immediately found herself on edge. "A hand? Between the roots, no?"

Even his casual question felt like a pointed accusation. It felt like he was calling her a liar. "I know what I saw." River's voice, unlike his, was firm and very much sure of the words that were formed between her lips.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you are correct in what you saw. Your eyes have not deceived you before to the best of my knowledge." Abraham's words shocked River to say the least. He believed her? She immediately found herself rolling from his side and propping herself up quite literally on his chest with a facial expression to match the flips that her stomach found itself doing.

She couldn't believe it at all. "You believe me?" She questioned, wondering briefly if he was agreeing out of respect for the woman who had panted his name through the night like a prayer. Perhaps he felt as though he had to back her if he wanted to continue their little meetings in the stock room.

Confuse, Abraham nodded. "Of course I believe you." He stated, his voice now firming up. He sounded sure, though River knew what an erection could do to a man's mind. It was the same thing looking at his naked body for too long did to hers. "I simply don't understand _how_ there could have been a hand there. Do you recall seeing a wrist? A forearm? Or was your vision obscured by the island's roots?"

Thinking back, she remembered the way in which her heart raced in her chest when she looked through the tangle of roots. She had seen what she was sure to be a hand, but those nails? Nay, claws. Those were definitely not human. Alas, what could it have been? She hadn't known much when it came to Earth Skills on the Ark, but she was pretty certain that monkeys didn't live in the ocean. Whatever had been down there, but it a hand, an arm, an entire body, she had no doubt that Shifty Isle had crushed it.

"It was definitely a hand." And so, over the course of half an hour, River relayed the story to Abraham. She told him about swimming to the surface, telling the other women that there was someone down there who clearly needed her help. She took two bone knives down, intending on trusting the other person with one in order to help free them more quickly. She even told him about the way in which the hand reached so very desperately one second, only to go still the next. His face changed from understanding to no so when she described the colour.

"Green. Like leaves?"

She shook her head, because that wasn't it. "No, no, more like... I don't know, more like a swamp, maybe? I mean, I say green, but maybe blue? It would have blended right in with the water, the way it shimmers, I only saw it because of the roots." River was ready to never hear the word _roots_ another time, that much was sure.

The only reason that their discussion ended was when there was the sound of a scuffle just outside of the door, immediately shushing them and drawing their combined gaze to the shadows that shuffled just below the door in the thin strip of light that shone through. Then, a flurry of sharp, impatient knocks. "Come out for food!" The voice, Octavia's, sounded pissed to say the least.

"Shit!" River cursed quietly, looking back to Abraham and where she was literally on top of him. "I guess we've been in here a while." She added, feeling a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "And I guess everyone knows what we were doing."

Smirking, Abraham rose effortlessly, grasping River when she gasped and began to wriggle off him, holding them together as he sat up and let the covers fall, exposing them both. "I do believe that everyone on this ship is sure of what we have been doing." He confirmed, chuckling when River groaned and fell into his chest. "Perhaps we should try to be quiet next time?"

River almost laughed to herself. Quiet? If their last round had been anything to go by, neither of them would accomplish a goal of being quiet for quite some time.

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Things were tense around the fire that night to say the least. River found herself sat between Octavia and Raven, neither of whom she wanted to look at for long as they both took every opportunity to smirk at her and raise their brows. Across from her, Abraham was sat between Clarke and Kane, though neither of them seemed able to look him in the eye without then looking at River guiltily. She understood it, they were hearing his deep voice, probably noting the mess that was his hair, then they were looking at her because... well, because his voice had seemed to drop an octave since the two of them disappeared together and when they emerged, his hair was quite frankly wild.

Even Thorne noticed something about the two of them, screaming at them unsurely before scampering off in search of his blanket that lay with a few of River's things.

The only two people who didn't seem to care what was going on was Indra and Tekken. River had remembered hearing once or twice that sex wasn't as scandalous to Grounders as it was to her people, perhaps their leader's sex life would bother them on occasion, but hers? Definitely not. To be quite honest, Indra almost looked bored of the topic when Jasper finally cleared his throat, looked at River and said "So, you guys are good now?" to which Octavia shot him a look that made River chuckle.

"We're fine." River chuckled, looking over to Abraham who seemed to be just containing a smile, though the intensity in his eyes blazed when their gazes met. "No need for concern."

"Unless any of us plan on sleeping ever again without hearing your intense sex noises." Raven grumbled, rolling her eyes then straightening abruptly as if to question whether that thought had left her lips.

Smirking, River flung a tiny fish bone at her. "Jealous, Reyes?" She challenged the other girl with her smirk, laughing when Raven huffed. "Brighten up, all we have to do is save the world, then you can go back to boning Wick."

Things were somewhat jovial for a little while. No one seemed to want to break the charmed spell that had fallen over them, not even Indra or Abraham. They all spoke animatedly as they ate and a couple of them even settled back against furniture and fell asleep as the others continued to talk.

What was weighing heaving on River, however, was te fact that although Abraham believed her when she said that she'd seen a hand, she couldn't help but wonder who it had belonged to. Had Shifty Isle continued to constrict and crushed someone? Had they been a diver, just like her? Perhaps they'd already been dead? No, she distinctly remembered the hand moving. Grabbing. Someone down there had been struggling for their life, that much she knew.

Despite her concerns, River said nothing. She let the night happen around her and welcomed Thorne into her arms when he wandered over with eyes weighed by need for sleep. She continued to think about the hand, about the strange colour that lay upon what she assumed was the skin, stroking Thorne the whole time until Clarke spoke up finally about the plan for the rest of their journey.

Clarke sighed as they talked, leaning forward and letting her thoughts be heard. "I vote that when morning comes, we make the most of the light and figure out where the hell we are, then we can set sail in the right direction."

Nodding, Bellamy carried on from her point, speaking clearly to the group, no trace of the smiles and laughter that had sat upon their faces before. "Agreed. We need to get moving. We've got to reach those plants before things get-"

"What? Before something crazy happens like the end of the world?" River cut him off with a smirk, because seriously, how could this situation be any worse? She wouldn't voice that aloud, of course, knowing that it could be much worse.

Chuckling, Bellamy took River's comment in his stride, nodding with an amused smile. Clearly he too saw the situation. "Yeah, Nivalis, something like that."

"So what do we do next?" Monty's voice was a shock considering he'd been asleep just a few short minutes previous, but he was heard and accepted into the conversation with ease.

Chuckling somewhat uncomfortably, Clark all but scoffed as she spoke. "Next?" It was as if she couldn't even begin to accept that they might actually walk away with their lives.

Ever the optimist, Monty shrugged. "Yeah, after all of this. I mean, even if we defy all odd and shut down nuclear reactors that threaten to destroy our world, what do we do to top that?"

Drunk and jolly, Jasper decided to join in. Loudly. "Well, I for one suggest skinny dipping!"

"Ew, Jasper!" Octavia made her thought known, though she did laugh, showing signs of the same girl who stepped out of a shuttle not so many months ago with a hundred others and a child's view of the world. It was refreshing for them all to have these moments in such horribly tedious times that seemed to demand every drop of their blood.

"Skinny dipping? What is this?" Abraham asked, brow creased. River seemed to be the only one who remembered that he and the other grounders didn't know every aspect of their language. After all, it wasn't as if Mount Weather would have been talking about skinny dipping, so it wasn't as if the term would have come up for him.

Smirking at him directly, River made sure that she was the one to reply. "Oh, you'd love it, big fella."

Raising a questioning brow and allowing a rare smile to tug gently at just one corner of his lips, Abraham countered. "Your tone of voice makes me think otherwise." And of course, he had sensed River's sarcasm, though there also seemed to have been a note of truth in there. What on earth was this _skinny dipping_?

"Sarcasm." River confirmed with a wider smirk and a shrug. "Seriously though, you probably would." She knew that she was right, though she then found herself thinking of it. Of Abraham. Skinny dipping. Christ, what a glorious sight that would be.

Naturally, it was Jasper who spoke up with a giggle and cracked her fantasy in half. "It's swimming, man."

Smile gone, Abraham scrunched his face up in a way that River found positively adorable. She didn't doubt that it would have looked intimidating to some, but having seen the small birthmark on the large man's butt, she doubted she would be intimidated by him again. "I don't enjoy swimming." Abraham's voice was full of scepticism when he spoke, eliciting a small chuckle from River.

She decided to cut the poor guy a break. "Naked swimming." And then, for her eyes only, his eyes lit up at her voice.

"That don't make the swimming more appealing." Abraham stated. "In fact, I am now less inclined to try this. Why would you do something like this together?"

Shrugging, River replied. "It's not necessarily a group activity. Maybe alone or with someone you're with. Hell, if you're drunk then maybe it is a group activity-"

Now smirking too, Abraham cut her off with ease and a fire behind his eyes. "And why is this something that you would do after successfully saving the world?" He couldn't keep the teasing from his voice when he spoke and River loved it.

"To celebrate?" Jasper's drunk giggles and outbursts, however, were making things less appealing.

"You swim nude to celebrate?" Abraham, seeming ever so slightly annoyed that the drunk boy had interrupted the bedroom eyes he and River had been exchanging, decided to humour the idiot.

Clearly startled then, Jasper panicked as if he'd been backed into a corner and the words weren't meant to have left his lips. "Well, I mean- it's not that... I mean-"

Despite enjoying watching the guy squirm, River took pity on his and took Abraham's attention back swiftly. "Oh please, once this whole thing is over I'll pump you full of Monty's 'shine, you'll be stripping before you know it."

With a raised brow and no thoughts for anyone else on the boat that wasn't River, Abraham leaned forward in his spot slightly, toward River, before speaking. "That sounds like an entirely different offer." The teasing note in his voice rang through clear and, had he been looking anywhere but her, he would have seen Clarke and Octavia all but lose their eyebrows in their hairlines while River laughed so manically that it came out silent. Clearly none of them had expected to ever - _ever -_ witness this side of him.

"Down, boy." River joked, pretending that his not so subtle flirt hadn't made her skin flush and her insides tussle for his attention.

Through the rest of the night, River and Abraham flirted until they finally all went to bed with food in their bellies and moonshine swimming in their minds, plans were made and resolves were steeled. It was decided by Indra, Clarke, Kane and Tekken as the last ones awake that once morning came, they would find their way to their destination, set their anchor down and get their asses into gear. They had a world to save and time was never on their side.

"When we get back, I'm gonna jump Wick so hard." Raven told no one in particular, slurring her words into the boat's dark cabin.

"Great." Octavia grumbled, clearly already coming off her alcohol induced high of sorts. Her attempt to shut the mechanic up was beyond clear.

"No, like, for real. I'm gonna just grab his dick and-"

"Raven!"

"Clarkey-"

"Please save it for Wick-"

"Oh, I'm gonna save him something. And by something I mean my-"

"Raven!" This time, the hisses came from four mouths in the room, shutting the girl up with a huff.

* * *

 **Soooo... how was it? One of my concerns (maybe not concerns, but I'll explain) is that the last section, the dialogue in particular, was written in a way that I haven't used before so I'd love to know if you noticed a difference! Please feel free to tell me if it's better, worse or the same.**

 **I know that not much has happened here but I'm thinking that the boat will touch down in one of the next two or three chapters. Thoughts?**

 **Honestly, I can't think of anything else to say other than tell me what you think and thank you to everyone who has already given me feedback on this little thought baby of mine that I almost decided not to post. Have a fantastic day!**


	18. Chapter 18

**First of all, I'm so sorry about how very long this has taken me. I got stuck quite early on in the chapter but was too stubborn to delete anything and start it again. There isn't much actually going on here but I will confirm right away that where they land in this chapter is where they'll stay for a few. A lot of this is dialogue as I'm still messing about with how I'm writing it and there is some intentionally OOC action in this one so there's a warning. There isn't much but tension is high after them all being stuck on a boat together.**

 **Anyhow, no one said that saving the world would be easy, so here you go.**

* * *

The boat had sailed, rocked, crashed and even ended up under the waves at least twice. Thanks to the fancy boat's tech, the team managed to get themselves back above the surface and finally understood what the boat meant about being named _The Sinking Sub_. It took Raven two hours to conclude that although it was possible for them to complete some of the journey below ground, the boat's radiation device wasn't working and she didn't trust the filtration system to let only clean air in. It was decided quickly that the boat would stay above the water's skin and that heads would roll if they weren't headed in the right direction.

By the time they hit land again, not having stopped again since Shifty Isle had done a real number on their only confident swimmer, Indra was the first to push forward. She leapt from the boat to the ground before Raven had even confirmed that the air was safe, helmet off and vomit flying. Abraham and Tekken followed suit, though Tekken didn't vomit, he simply swayed, woozy, and braced his hands on his knees for a while.

It had been clear that the grounders among them all were less than thrilled to be stuck on a boat. Actually, they'd been fine until Octavia and Jasper had sat and discussed motion sickness. Three days later, they were still thinking about it and that left them throwing up on a stone beach.

The beach seemed to span for miles along coast, though as it got steeper in front of them, it seemed to only go back about a half a mile or so.

"Well," River grumbled, stepping off the boat and dropping the three or four feet to the ground with a gentle thud. "I guess the air's okay." River's mood had increased dramatically when she and Abraham began sleeping together regularly, though that only lasted for two days, and thanks to Jasper and Octavia, the second River sat on the large man's lap and rocked their hips together, he groaned and moved her, fearing that he may be sick. So yeah, the three sea sick grounders had slow put everyone in a bad mood since River had previously been one of the ones to spread a smile. Alas, no smiles were given for as long as she was left horny and untouched.

Where the beach ended, it was immediately clear that a city had once stood beside it. The stones that paved the floor were undoubtedly brick and concrete that had once stood, possibly as a wall or even a walkway, maybe even buildings, though now it covered the floor as if it too was now the ground.

The group, together on the stone, relieved themselves of their suits, tying them around their waists in case the air took a turn.

For miles upon miles, crumbled buildings were taken over by trees, greenery and _life_. River wondered briefly if this whole so-called apocalypse had even been a bad thing. She saw the life that was allowed to thrive since the people were subtracted from the situation and by God, it was beautiful. Not beautiful enough for her to turn away and just let herself die, but still.

Octavia, in a worse mood than anyone, trudged forward with little care for her footing.

Sadly, her horse had fallen ill. River hadn't understood the big deal until she had imagined Thorne. Just the thought of his tiny chest heaving for air the same way the chestnut mare had made her skin crawl and itch all over. She had offered to put the poor beast to sleep, but Octavia had declined. They'd been through too much together for her to let someone else deliver the mare's fate. All it took was a swift movement from her left hand and a blade and the horse was just a pile of meat, but River saw the pain. She'd been told that Trikru warriors were close to their horses, but it hadn't occurred to her what that meant until Abraham announced that a fire would be lit for her upon their arrival and her ashes would be collected.

Perfectly good meat was getting a funeral when they were all beginning to tire of the rations aboard the ship; this horse was clearly more than good meat.

That was quickly a point of discussion between Jasper, Monty and Raven, leaving only River, Kane and Clarke to diffuse things between the others. Bellamy was little help. He clearly agreed with the others, but Octavia was his sister and so he didn't argue with her.

As far as River was concerned, Octavia was Trikru now. She didn't know what that made her, but she wasn't sure that she was an Arker anymore.

Walking, River wondered if it even mattered what they all were anymore. She knew that their traditions still mattered and so did their past, but surely this was the time for the all to begin living as a single people? It wasn't as if they'd be going back to the sky in their lifetime.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Instead of keeping herself occupied with questions of ethics and life as a whole, River found herself crouching beside Abraham where he was on his knees. Thankfully he seemed to be done vomiting, though he now had a somewhat murderous expression on his face that scared the others away and confused River.

Nodding, the tall man swiftly stood with a grunt, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand without so much as looking at her. "I am fine." He grumbled, giving her nothing more as he began to walk. River being River, well, she wasn't standing for that. For three days they'd been cooped up on that boat while he wouldn't speak to anyone for too long in case he puked, but now he was ignoring her? It felt even worse than listening to Raven talk about Wick. And so, with that in mind, not wanting to lose anything of Abraham, she reached out an grabbed him before he could get too far, unphased when he spun with a fire in his eyes. "I. Am. Fine." He growled, snatching his arm from her but not making to walk away again.

Chuckling, River crossed her arms over her chest and rose a brow the same way her father did when she was younger. "C'me on, big guy, what's up?"

Sighing, he shook his head, clearly not wanting to talk. Alas, he did. "I do no like having sick."

"Being." River corrected gently, stepping closer to his and laying a soft hand on his stomach. "And no one likes it, but you're okay now. We're on land and I'm sure we can find some food you can keep down."

"I am not hungry."

"Oh, of course you're not." She grumbled, rolling her eyes. She knew that whatever was going on between them hadn't been going on for long, but she also knew that she knew him in a way that she had only known one man before him. Matt. One look at his face and she could find a lie. Abraham was definitely hungry, so why no appetite? "Last time you ate was...?"

"I ate this morning." Abraham's voice was beyond pitiful. He was clearly trying to be some form of intimidating, but all River could hear was the voice of a man who had his own vomit on his shoes.

Sighing, she did wonder for a second if she should ease up on the investigation. "Ate without throwing up after." She clarified, hoping that her eyes softened a little. She didn't want to tease him if he was feeling like shit.

Alas, his eyes narrowed. "Do not be cruel." He growled, his eyes closing for a brief second as his stomach jerked a little and he spat out the little bile that made it up his throat.

Worried, River stepped closer and lay a hand on his shoulder while the other cupped his face. "I'm not being cruel! Come on, look, we'll find something familiar and it'll settle your stomach. You hear of mint? My mom always told me to eat mints when I was sick. Of course, we had those shitty ones that dissolved on your tongue in like a second so they didn't help much, but I bet mint grows down here? Hell, I don't know. Where does mint grow? I'd want it to grow near water 'cause it tastes so fresh, you know? Anyhow, I think that's just because I lived by the water for so long now, plus I don't know the names of half the shit I eat these days." She rambled on for quite some time after that, all the while Abraham's face found different smiles, many of which were smirks that simply spurred her ramblings on.

Thankfully, Kane and Clarke began shouting for everyone to regroup, have a drink of water and split into two teams.

That should have been easy enough, but no. Abraham didn't agree with the teams. River watched that way that, of the three grounders, he was clearly the one to take charge. She'd heard what he'd told her and what Indra had told her about him being _Nithaihefa,_ about how he had acted as Lexa's sword when she needed him to. She knew about the sorts of people he had killed, be it murderers or innocent children simply born in the wrong town, but looking at him, she knew that he wasn't a guilty man, he was a good man with a decent heart. Was that why Indra and Tekken followed him.

Shaking his head, Abraham made his thoughts clear. "If we split once more into groups of men and woman, what should happen if you come across a heavy load?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest impressive biceps would change things.

Scoffing, Raven stepped forward with irritation across her face. "You think we can't lift just because we're chicks? Sexist, big fella."

Abraham took a menacing step towards her, but the mechanic wasn't quite smart enough to be scared. "Do not call me that." He growled, his voice low. Only River called him that. "And of all of us, the most muscle mass falls to the men, this fact, no?" His reasoning, of course, was accurate. He wasn't being sexist at all, it really was just a fact that he, Bellamy, Tekken and Kane were the strongest physically of them.

Narrowing her eyes, Raven shook her head. It seemed that she was determined to start something. "Nah, I get it, you want River in your group, right? You wanna wander around with her and bone in every fucking abandoned building?" Her voice was almost a hiss at the end and River found herself pissed, stepping froward.

"Watch it, Reyes." She warned, not wanting things to get ugly.

Sighing, Clarke also stepped forwards. It was like looking after a group of children. "Guys-"

Not having heard Clarke, or perhaps not caring for the blonde's words, Raven turned from Abraham and moved her glare to River. "Watch it?" She scoffed, eyes wide. "Why? What're you gonna do? You act so fucking high and mighty just because you lived alone, well fucking done, but no one care, hun."

Chuckling darkly, River took another step forward and lay a hand on Raven's shoulder. The mechanic shrugged it off with a snarl. "Look, Raven, I'm not past beating the shit outta a cripple with a knee brace, okay? I get that you miss Wick and that you apparently don't like fish, but fuck you, yeah?"

Sighing, this time deeper, Clark tried again, this time addressing the two women. "Raven, River, that's en-"

Laughing loudly, though clearly lacking humour, Raven gave a small shove, to which the other one clenched her fist tightly and stumbled back a step. "Oh! You think you're so much better than the rest of us just because you're climbing Lexa's assassin like a-"

"Enough!" Abraham snapped, his anger very clearly brewing on the surface.

The mechanic sneered in his direction, never once looking away from River. "I'm not done-"

Storming forward, Abraham quite literally grabbed the front of Raven's shirt and picked her almost a foot off the ground with just one hand, his other hands catching her leg when she lashed out in a panic to try to kick him."Enough." he hissed, directly in her face before literally dropping her and making no move to help her up when she stumbled and fell into the floor. "Wanheda has tried to shut you both up twice now. It is her that I follow and her word is final. I suggest that we split into Trikru and Skaikru, if Wanheda permits it?"

Thankful for the interruption, Clark nodded, though she wasn't sure about the groups. "That's a team of eight and a team of three, it's too risky for you guys." She told him, her voice wary.

Nodding, Abraham contemplated this for a second before glancing to Octavia. "Octavia is Indra's second, that makes her one of us, no?"

"Seven and four, still not enough."

"River has not been one of you for a long time. Six and five is as even as we shall get. I would also ask that you join us, Wanheda, though I assume that you will remain with your people?"

Looking both surprised and pleased, Clarke nodded with the ghost of a smile on her lips. "We're all one another's people now, I'd be glad to join you. Kane and Bellamy are more than competent." With a nod to the two men, she knew that they could handle themselves.

Smiling, Abraham nodded back. "So it is decided. I am glad that we were able to do this somewhat painlessly."

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The walk away from the beach was tense. Raven and River were still looking one another over, though River had the sense to walk away first when Raven placed a hand threateningly on her gun. Of course, the mechanic wouldn't have shot the sole survivor and they both knew it, but tension had been high on the boat and River was sure that fights were brewing among almost everyone other than Kane and Tekken. Even Monty had snapped at Bellamy the day before.

The ground soon gave way to streets that you could still see the paving of beneath the masses of growth above it, trees wrapping and winding, even sprouting within buildings so their limbs pushed out of windows that had long since smashed.

It was a ghost town, but River found it actually kind of beautiful.

Clarke walked near to Abraham for almost an hour before she got the courage to ask what had been on her mind for so long. "What was Lexa like when she was younger?" It was no secret that Abraham had known Lexa, but she had always felt some sort of embarrassment asking about her around her friends. It was stupid and she knew it, but they'd never known the commander the way she had.

Smiling fondly, Abraham chuckled. "She was... still Lexa." He told her first, walking silently for a second before continuing. "When we were younger, Lexa and I grew together almost as siblings. We trained together and once our bloods were tested, we moved to Polis together. We were forever a perfect match when sparring, though as I grew in height our- how do you say? Angles? They changed. Heda learned to use her speed and patience while I learned to use my strength-"

"Wait, Lexa told me that she left everyone behind when she moved to Polis?" Clarke asked, confused.

Nodding, Abraham took a swig of his water. "Of course, every _Natblida_ must leave their family behind." He confirmed, because they did. It was an upsetting ordeal for many.

And so it dawned on Clarke. "So you're one?"

" _Sha_ , you did not know this?" Abraham asked her, wondering how it was that she didn't know. He had never kept it a secret and many knew.

Shaking her head sadly, Clark chuckled. Just her luck that Lexa's right hand man could have been the answer to so much if only they'd known. "No. We looked for someone for so long..."

Abraham nodded, he understood. "Heda's orders to me were clear. I was wait for a settle in time before attacking if she was ever harmed. Whoever sat upon her throne would either have me as an ally, or would die a painful death. I was sad to hear that Ontari was brain-dead. This is the word, no?" It was clear that he was saying whoever won the conclave fairly would have had him as a protector, but what Ontari did most definitely made her an enemy.

"It is. I just- if you knew we were looking, how did you not come forward?" Clarke's mission had hardly been secret, so where was he?

Sighing, Abraham started. "Wanheda-"

"Clarke." She cut him off, having always hated that title.

"Clarke. My only regret in this life is that I left to watch Azgeda's homeland when Heda ordered me to. The second I heard of her demise, I rode my horse raw to get back to Polis. By the time my journey was done, Ontari and Titus were gone. Had either of them been alive, I assure you that I would have taken their lives for just a fraction of hers. As for your looking, I did not know. If I had known, I swear to you upon my very breath that I would have found you." The fire in his eyes proved his words. No one doubted that he was capable of doing unspeakable things, nor did they doubt that he would have done. For Lexa.

"Sure would have saved us a lot of trouble." Clarke chuckled after a second, wondering if she had made a friend in that moment.

"Especially with the boat people." Abraham chuckled with her.

Laughing, Clarke rolled her eyes. "God, I'd have killed Luna if I could." She admitted, thinking back to that stubborn woman.

Smirking, Abraham admitted, "I have considered it more than once."

Silence fell between the two, just a chuckle in the air, but before long, Clarke spoke again. "You know, I can imagine you and Lexa sparring. I'm sure it would have been beautiful."

Smiling sadly, Abraham remembered the woman who was more than simply a leader. She was a friend. _"Sha_ , Heda was one of the best. You had not witnessed beauty until you had seen her with her spear."

Unseen at first, Indra approached the pair, letting her presence be known by speaking out about Lexa. "Heda used to train on the very top of the tower in Polis. She would balance at the very top and practice her blind training with closed eyes." Her voice held wonder and amusement as she too remembered the best commander in all her years.

Laughing, Clarke wiped a stray tear from her cheek when it fell. She was overcome with emotion, hearing about Lexa doing things that were both stupid but also so very _Lexa_. "She would?" She asked, trying to picture it and simply laughing more when the image came to her.

"She would." Indra nodded, smiling fondly whilst also sadly. She missed the commander who had made such a beautiful difference.

"This does sound like something that Lexa would do." Abraham confirmed, a pain in his chest calling out for a lost friend.

"Was she ever a child? I mean, mentally. Did she ever play, or was it always training?" Clarke had that same pain, though hers called for the woman whom she had fallen so deeply in love with. She wanted to hear that Lexa, as a child, was full of love while toeing the line with that adorable scowl that she had perfected so very well.

Rolling her eyes, Indra nodded. "Oh, I assure you, Heda played." She stated, feeling as though she could still feel some residual anger for the commander who had once been such a small girl.

Abraham smirked and nodded. "Her jokes were perfect."

"Jokes?" Clarke almost found it hard to believe, but she was finally hearing about the side of Lexa that she only ever saw so very briefly, so she wouldn't let go now.

"Yes, how do you call them? Practical jokes? _Sha_ , she was a very large annoyance in our clan."

"I can't believe that there's so much of her that I didn't know." Clarke muttered, wishing that she had gotten more time with the brunette.

Placing her hand on the arm of the Commander of Death, Indra smiled at the young woman. "I shall tell you of the time that Heda turned our fires blue. She managed to convince Anya that Azgeda warriors would leap from the flames."

Noticing River trudging alone, Abraham gave Clarke's arm a comforting touch with a smile before leaving her with Indra and dropping back a few paces.

Together, they walked in silence. The group moved deeper into the city, following routes that Tekken had mapped out. On their way, they went into a few buildings for bathroom breaks if they looked safe, stopped once or twice for a quick breather, but for the most part they trudged on.

Sighing beside River when they were sat down, Abraham took a long swig from his canteen, offering it to River and putting it away when she shook her head with a small smile. "When I was but a boy, I lost my mother." He told her, thinking back to the beach.

Breathing in sharply, River turned to look at him, for the first time thinking about how very young they both were. She didn't know his exact age, but there was no way he was past his early to mid twenties. "I'm so sorry, were you two close?" She asked, shuffling a little closer until their thighs and shoulders touched. She hoped it was comforting.

Shaking his head, Abraham leaned into her slightly. "No." He told her easily. "We were not. She was a vile woman who beat me until I knew to leave home. Lexa and her father welcomed me in."

Shocked and outraged for a younger Abraham, River physically recoiled. She couldn't actually imagine anyone laying a hand on him. She could imagine a lanky boy with scruffy brown hair and the deepest of blue eyes, but hitting him? Good God, no. "Abraham, that must have been horrible. Is this why you and Lexa were so close?"

Abraham nodded fondly with a somewhat shy smile. " _Sha_. Though when my mother passed, I ran from home and wept." He admitted, clearing his throat a moment later. It was clear that this wasn't something that he told everyone.

"That's understandable, she was still your mother."

Sighing almost like a growl, Abraham did the most shocking thing and kissed the top of River's head. She was shocked because it was such an affectionate act, especially around the others, but she said nothing. "For eight days and eight nights, my mother was sick. She vomited up every meal that she ate and could not even drink water without it come from her mouth a minute later. By the time she died, there was nothing left of her but skin and bone with the face of the woman I loved so dearly."

It dawned enormously quickly on River that Abraham despised being sick because it was quite literally what killed his mother. "Oh my god, Abraham. I'm-"

Shaking his head, Abraham shushed her. "This is why I do not like being sick. My mother died from sickness. You did not know this, I do not blame you and I know that I was rude. It was uncalled for and I swear to you that I am sorry." His voice was calm and soft, letting River know that he really didn't blame her. She felt guilty all the same.

"Sorry? Don't be sorry, big guy! Christ, I was such an insensitive asshole at first, I didn't even think." She prayed that he could see in her eyes how sorry she was.

"This is not something that you could have known." Abraham told her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling them even closer together. River took this as a good sign and chose to lie her head against his chest. "I just hope that you can forgive me. You see, never before have I spent so much time with a woman. For my whole life, I have worked hard to do what is right, though I may not have always done what is right according to morals. I want to do right by you."

"Right now I don't think that there's a certain way to do right by me," She grumbled truthfully, because seriously, where was the freaking manual on how to treat someone during the apocalypse? "but I promise you that you are doing. You're a _good_ man, Abraham, I don't doubt that."

"I was rude to you." Abraham stated, ashamed.

Leaning away to look up at this huge, incredible man, River shook her head with a chuckle. "You know, a few days ago I remember kicking you in the balls. Let's call it even, yeah?"

Watching her face, Abraham smiled back shyly in ways that made River's heart have a little fit. " _Sha,_ even."

"You know, I know the world is ending, but I'm glad we found one another." River admitted, thinking about how neither of them were perfect, but they actually did fit rather well together.

"As am I." Abraham agreed, a deep chuckle shaking his chest. "You make saving this world a much more appealing prospect." He added softly, smiling to himself. He'd never thought that he would fine "the one", but River seemed to tick any boxes that he'd had. Granted, she was a pain in his ass, but he actually sort of liked that.

"Do I hear wedding bells?" River teased, nudging their shoulders together.

"Wedding bells? What are these?"

"For real?" But of course, they didn't have churches anymore.

"For real." Abraham rolled his eyes and nudged her shoulder back playfully.

"Oh, when people get married at a church, the church's bells ring out so people know they're a wedding taking place. On the Ark we had the sound recorded. Matt and I always joked that we would have it just so we could sneak our marriage up on people. It was such a stupid joke, but it always made me smile." Matt had always been very clear about his desire to marry River. He'd more than once shown her designs for their quarters and, despite their age, they'd even talked about where their child would sleep.

Nodding, Abraham thought over his words for a second before speaking them. "I am sorry that you lost him, though I must selfishly admit that I am glad that he not here now." Truly, he was sorry for River that she had lost the man she loved, but he was sure that he would have felt this way for her either way. As morbid as it was, he was glad to not have this man as competition.

"You know, I think I am, too." She replied, shocking him. "I've thought about him a lot and how he was. This world would have crushed him. He didn't get a glamorous death, but it was quick and probably painless. He got to see how beautiful this deadly place is, so I'm glad for that much."

Wiping the tear from her cheek when it dared fall, Abraham kissed the top of her head again, speaking into her hair. "This much I understand, though I still do not understand wedding bells. What is a wedding? Why is it that you must announce it?"

"A wedding is like this ceremony where two people basically say that they're going to love one another forever. It's like a contract, promising someone that you'll always be there, in sickness and in heath, for better or for poor and all that crap."

Something sparked in Abraham's eyes. "Ah, like a _Houmonde_?" He asked, clearly somewhat excited by this prospect.

"A what?" River asked him, finally the one to not know a term.

"In your language, I believe it translates to day of love. A _houmon_ is a man's woman or a woman's man, or of course a woman's woman and man's man. A husband or wife in your language? The _Houmonde_ is the day that they become _Houmon_ to one another. The ceremony."

River was pleasantly surprised that being gay was seemingly fine in Grounder culture. It was on the Ark, though some people were assholes about it and the couples that they were idiots for not continuing their bloodlines etc. "Right! So you're _Houmonde_ is what we call a wedding."

"And the bells?" He prompted. He'd heard the word before, but he couldn't quite find the meaning.

"Well there used to be these buildings that people got married in, churches, and the bells were right at the top. They used to ring every hour so people knew what time it was. When people got married, on their _Houmonde_ , the bells would ring out when the marriage was complete to let everyone around know. It was always such a happy sound whenever I heard it."

Abraham still wasn't entirely sure what a bell was, but River seemed fond of them. "Perhaps there is still a church somewhere." He suggested, not even knowing what one looked lie but liking River's smile at the mention of one. "If there is, I shall make the bells sound for you."

Shocked by his words, River looked up at him with butterflies in her stomach and a fire in her heart. "You know, for a big, bad assassin, you're actually super sweet."

Scowling playfully, Abraham shook his head. "I am sweet for you. No one else." He told her, his voice stiff in resolution but still jovial.

"Adorable." River teased, leaning up to kiss his stubbly cheek. She could definitely get used to this.

* * *

 **So, what are we thinking? I'm definitely enjoying writing moments between Abraham and River more and more as I give him more background, it's making it easier for me to get to know him so I hope no one minds the big guy opening up a bit more.**

 **Anything I missed that anyone wanted? I did get asked about how I would address grounder traditions like marriage etc so I hope this little bit was alright, I do plan to go deeper into it for an actual grounder marriage at some point, I'm just yet to decide when and who. I hate to tell you this, but neither River not Abraham are safe from me, especially when I'm channelling my inner George R. R. Martin, so I'd love to hear who anyone wants me to spare or slash. No one is safe but I also don't want to lose any of you guys as readers so I'll consider anyone fair game at this point.**

 **That all said, please please please tell me how it went and how you want things to go. Feeling strongly about something happening in later chapters? Tell me and I might make it happen! So, tell me what's up and have a great day!**

 **P.S. I'll work hard to get the next chapter up soon, but I will admit that I've gone from being five chapters ahead to literally having only finished this ten minutes ago.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'll be honest, I planned to have this whole thing wrapped up by twenty or so chapters, but I'm having fun with the story even if it is taking forever... sorry. I've been talking to** silentmayhem **who had really really helped me so far (as I haven't watched past the third season) so I'd like to say right off the bat that I don't think I'll be taking anyone back to space, purely because I don't think that I'm a strong enough writer for it. Something about rockets and space and all that seems a bit too much for me, but I'll definitely look deeper into the creatures that are still on Earth and how they vary in different places. But yeah, I just wanted to get the whole maybe/maybe not space thing out of the way because although I want there to be mystery, I also know how satisfying it is to predict a few things here and there while reading so I'm just dropping a couple of hints where I can as to where things are headed.**

 **Anyhow, on with Chapter Nineteen, I hope you enjoy!**

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Abraham slashed branches down as if he was swatting insects from his face when Tekken decided that their route took them directly through a mass of overgrown foliage. Tekken followed closely behind him to tell him exactly where to swing, the others trailing a few paces behind.

River decided that there were worse things than watching Abraham's arms as he swatted with a blade the length of her whole arm and watching his butt as he strode forward through the mess he was creating. There were definitely worse things; the heat, for example, was one of those things. Oh, the bugs too. They flew around everyone's faces and bit if given the chance. Poor Octavia was getting it the worst, but none of them complained.

The group must have trekked for at least three miles up hill before there was a snap from the bushes a few feet away and their guns were drawn.

Eventually, it was ruled that the noise was almost definitely just an animal hiding. After all, they were trampling through a perfectly habitable area.

River, however, wasn't convinced. She and Octavia kept their weapons raised, poised and ready to fire. "What do you think it was?" River grumbled, trying to p her eyes on the treeline while they walked.

Breathing heavily, Octavia shrugged. "Too much to hope it's a harmless, little chicken? I'd really freaking love some chicken tonight."

"We'd be good guys for shooting a chicken, right?"

"Sure would, best to keep our guns up."

"My thoughts exactly."

Meanwhile, barely thirty steps to their right, a man walked, crouched in the bushes, following them up the steep incline. He followed carefully, not wanting to be heard again. Whatever weapons those people had raised, they seemed confident that they would be efficient in protecting them when he made a slight misstep.

For the next half a mile or so, he followed them. He watched them and listened to their strange language, noting mentally that he didn't understand a word they were saying.

When he noticed one of his partners a few feet ahead, he whistled like a bird, catching his attention just in time to see the other man's eyes close as he blended back into the trees. If he'd have spoken English, he would have understood Octavia saying "I'm gonna eat whatever that fucking bird is." with an agreeing grunt from River.

These people, he thought, looked dangerous. And that boat that they had arrived on, what was that?

When scouts had spotted it coming in, he couldn't believe what they were saying. Sure, he and the others had grown up rowing boats, but this white vessel that carried so many of them, made of what? Well, they had never seen one of those that wasn't just another wreckage on their shores before.

By the time the group stopped, the man was finding himself watching the women in the group, especially the blonde. There were few white women in his territory, let alone blonde ones. Watching her though, well, he knew that he had a type and she was just it. He considered showing himself, proving that he meant no harm, but what if they did? With their strange weapons and their foreign language, there was no assurance that they even spoke his language.

What broke his gaze, however, was a bird swooping low across their makeshift camp of fallen trees and stones. Going past them, it drew much too much attention before spreading its wings to slow and fall to his shoulder.

His heart beating a mile a minute, he screwed his eyes shut and prayed that he blended well enough and that they didn't come to close.

He knew, however, that his prayer had done nothing when he heard them shouting in their language and moving. Again, had he understood, he would heave heard Octavia hollering that there was something in the bird's foot. He would have heard Clarke state that it looked like a rolled up message. He would have heard Indra saying to go after it. Alas, all he heard was their nearing footsteps and the desperate whistles of his comrades as they tried in vein to get them away from him.

In that exact moment, it struck Abraham that they were surrounded. "There!" he growled, noticing a thick strand of hair. Giving no one else time to think, he surged forward with a knife in one hand, grabbing the man in his other and dragging him out with ease. He made quick work of forcing his knife through the bird and into a tree, leaving it pinned there for scratching at his hand as he pulled a new blade. "Get the note." He growled at Tekken, dragging the now struggling man into their small clearing.

"Those whistles." Clarke started, her eyes wide.

"They're everywhere." River snapped at no one in particular.

Growling, Abraham hauled the man to his feet and held his blade to his throat. "Come out now! If you don't, I'll cut his throat!"

His words, however, fell on deaf ears. Well, not deaf, but certainly not ears that understood him. Was he threatening them? Was he offering them peace? Was he asking for a trade? They had no idea.

From the bushes, four men and two women approached, knives in their hands and angry looking birds of prey on their arms. With Abraham holding the first man, everyone would have to more than do their share if it came to a fight. It was only then, when one of the men began yelling in another language, that it clicked. The groups couldn't understand one another. "What do we do?" Octavia growled, low in her stance, ready to fight.

"We wait." Indra replied, her lip curled back to show her teeth to her potential targets.

"We're out numbered." River reminded them. "If we fight, we'll have to kill this guy pretty sharp just to even things out."

They were all ready to fight, Tekken included, though the birds seemed to be putting him off somewhat. "The birds." He stated, watching one as the six people around them took a step closer. "The birds are tethered to their arms. If we attack at a distance with gun then the birds will not get to scratch us."

"It's not chicken, but it'll do."

"O, you're thinking about food? Now?"

"Clarkey, I'm always thinking about food."

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"Bellamy, shut up."

"Look, Reyes, this isn't my fault, okay?"

"We're hanging upside down from a trap. Where was this trap? On the route _you_ took us down!"

Sighing, Kane closed his eyes, letting the blood rush to his head without a fight. In that moment, he actually would have rather thought about anything but their situation. Apparently Raven's inability to look when she was walking was anyone's fault but her own. To make matters worse, Jasper was in a separate trap and Monty was the only one on the ground. Monty was of no help.

"Monty." Kane started, eyes still closed. "Just shoot the rope, okay?" His patience was growing thin, as was the skin on his ankles.

Sweating nervously, Monty nodded. "Yeah! Sure, right. Uh, it's just... the rope is so close to your head, you know?"

"Shoot it!" Yelled Bellamy, not enjoying being literally tied to Raven. "It's one freaking rope, Green!"

"Okay, if you keep it up like that, I'll get Jasper down first - and he actually looks super comfortable, so just give me a break!"

Kane couldn't help but sigh again. Who knew that saving the world would be such a huge ordeal? He wondered how Abby was getting on. He had wanted so desperately to be on the same ship as her, but her admired every ounce of her strength when she opted to leave both him and Clarke in order to be a medic on another boat.

Christ, what he would have given to be on that same boat with her. Alas, this boat needed a leader and Clarke didn't seem to want that title.

He didn't feel like much of a leader now, strung up in the air by one leg, a small arrow in the other. The morons around him were bickering like the children he still saw them as. The whole situation was a mess and, in that moment, he just wished that the whole group had stayed together. He had a feeling that Indra and Abraham at the very least would have been out of these restraints within seconds of being in them.

Instead of speaking to the others, Kane simply dangled there and waited, thinking about Abby's beautiful face and how he was sure to propose once they were all home again. Perhaps there would be no need for a chancellor and they could live together in the woods, a little way away from the Ark.

The Ark was great, of course, but he would have loved if they could have their own little place. He envied River for that much. Whenever she had gotten sick of them during the brief overlap period, she had simply gone home and locked her doors. Her knew that she wouldn't give up The Station, but perhaps a wing of it? It was hardly lacking in space and they could even take one of the rooms that would require a ladder to get up to.

His plans, however, were cut short when a gunshot rang out and had him almost making a large mess in his pants. His eyes flew open and he looked down at a rather guilty looking Monty who had clearly missed his target. If Bellamy hadn't dropped his gun, they would already have been out of this stupid situation, but no, the first thing they all did when the ropes took their legs was drop everything and panic. Idiots, himself included.

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Sick and tired of waiting in suspense, Abraham made a decision for them all. "Get ready." He said, then only a second later he violently swung the man in his arm into a tree with force that had bits of bark flying off. It knocked the poor bastard out at the very least, and then they charged.

"Save your bullets!" Clarke yelled, something waking in her with the first drop of spilled blood.

On her command, all guns were dropped onto their straps to swing and knives were drawn.

Abraham took a knife from River's belt, throwing it with ease and watching as it found home in the eye of a man. It didn't go deep enough, so the guy fell the floor, screaming and fingering at the blade. With quick steps, Abraham lurched forward and grabbed his foot, dragging him into their small clearing before stamping hard onto the bird that began screeching and biting his leg with a razor sharp beak before leaning down and forcing the blade deeper with one thrust of his palm, pulling it out covered in blood.

Around him, he could see River stabbing wildly at a man's stomach while his bird used its claws against her shoulder and head, flapping wildly until she brought a hand up to catch it. Her catch was lucky, grabbing it by the chest and slamming it violently against the ground until it stilled, at which point she drove a knife through its skull to ensure it didn't suffer.

Octavia all but cut the bird in half, letting the woman it was attached to charge at her, impaling her with a lengthy sword that she then pulled from her side to thrust into the head of the man who had thought better than to attack Indra.

All in all, the fight lasted barely a minute, but left the survivors covered in blood, most of which was their own.

"Fucking birds." River snarled, spitting a mouthful of blood at the offending creature that had made mean work of her right eyebrow.

"Take their weapons." Abraham said, his voice cold and not at all the man that River's had quickly become used to. She realised quickly that she had never seen this side of him, she had never seen him kill a man before.

Everyone did as they were told and grabbed the weapons, keeping some and discarding others. "Is that an axe?" Abraham asked River when she dropped a particularly heavy looking item. She nodded, explaining that it would be too much for her. "My weapon of choice." He stated in reply, for some reason shocking her. He plucked it from the ground with ease and smiled. It was a dark, sadistic smile that meant he knew exactly how many lives he could take with such a beautifully crafted weapon.

"We should march on." Clarke told the group, all of whom were panting and cursing, tending to their scratches. "These people, whoever they are, they're not as proficient in fighting as we are. If we come across more of them, I say we take care of them. We have a job to do, we need to do anything and kill anyone who gets between us and out objective."

"What about him?" Tekken pointed to the man, unconscious on the ground, only for Clarke to come over and press the blade of her knife directly into his neck, pulling it out a second later as blood began to pool. "Okay. Understood."

Everyone knew that Clarke preferred not to kill, she valued life in a different way since losing Lexa, but now? Now wasn't about preferences. Now was about saving the damn world and if that meant killing someone to avoid them becoming a threat, then so be it.

Together, they all trekked hard. None of them were in good moods anymore, though Octavia did fashion a bag our of one of the jackets of the deceased, stuffing the birds into them with a promise to take a bite out of each and every one of them. She, River and Indra walked together, plucking feathers from the critters angrily. It seemed that the three women had taken it personally when the birds had attacked.

"We all need to keep an eye out." Clarke reminded them all as they walked, her voice a little harder than before. It was clear that she had hoped that no one would come to any harm, including people at her own hand, but there she was, having just taking the life of a man who had no means to fight back. What on earth did that make her now?

"Take note of their clothing. Do they blend more with the ground foliage or with the treetops? This will tell us where to look for them." Abraham walked beside Clarke, one hand firmly on his new axe while the other still slashed plants from his path.

Before too much longer, they all found themselves walking between buildings that had once made a grand city, though they were now reduced to crumbling masses, home now to plant life that towered from their windows and doors as high as the eye could see. When they light filtered by the trees began to fade, Indra suggested making camp for the night. No one protested, though there were disagreements as to where to go. The group discussed the pros and cons of higher ground versus sticking to where they could make a quick getaway.

"So we kill anything we see?" Octavia questioned as they walked, not seeming put off by that idea, though not exactly in love with it.

Sighing, Clarke shook her head. "We avoid killing where we can, but if it's the difference between being seen and carrying on hidden, then we stay hidden."

"Here will do." Abraham announced, cutting the conversation short before it could even blossom. "Two hours of hard digging, we can collect some branches and make a comfortable spot for ourselves. Hidden. We could return to the same spot on our way back, also."

Clarke nodded, thankful to no longer be talking about killing. "Okay, we can churn the ground up with swords and knives, maybe dig with the axe?" Her question was clearly towards Abraham, but it was Tekken who shook his head.

"Our suits. The helmets with the glass on the face? Visors? They will move more earth and can be washed. An axe will blunt and become less effective if we dug with it."

Of course, he was right.

"Here." River offered, already taking her suit apart. "We can use mine, it's already got blood and grot on it, not like it's clean."

"Grot?" Abraham raised a brow, tilting his head in a truly adorable fashion.

Chuckling, River nodded. "It's like dirt. Like muck. Grot."

Nodding, Abraham shared just a small smile with her. "Grot." He chuckled. "I do not like this word. It does not sound at all pleasant."

The group of them dug until the sunlight was no more, cooking just two of the seven dead birds, not wanting their small fire to draw too much attention. once they had all eaten their share, they all clambered into the small hole that barely allowed for Abraham's wide shoulders, packed in like sardines. River was glad to be between Abraham and Octavia, though the large man chose to face the wall. She didn't mind, she simply wrapped her arms around him from behind and chuckled at the way he squirmed, shocked.

"We're a day's hike away." Clarke stated into the damp, stale air.

They had been lying down for quite some time, but only Abraham and Indra had managed to get to sleep, though Tekken seemed to be on his way. River supposed that the three of them were more used to sleeping in the woods, where she and the other two had grown up on beds and possibly a makeshift cot in Octavia's case.

"What do we do once we get there?" Clarke asked, having had no reply from the others.

Sighing, River shrugged, knowing that Octavia felt it. "We save the world?" She tried, inhaling Abraham's scent. None of them smelled of soap, that was for sure, but even when he smelled gross, he still only really smelled of the woods and a little musk. It was oddly comforting.

Snorting, Octavia shook her head. "And how the hell do we do that? I mean, we could kill a whole fucking village of people, but a nuclear reactor? Fuck, how do we even get in there?"

"What? This Becca chick couldn't have given you a blueprint, Clarke?" River jested lightly, though it would have been nice to have literally anything to go on.

They all continued to wonder into the night, though sleep did claim them all one by one, taking Clarke last as she worried about the others. Sadly, her worrying wouldn't stop anything from happening to them; their fate was already secured and one life was already lost.

* * *

 **Well well well, a life lost. Anyone have any guesses? I've already written the beginning on Ch20 so I know who it is but if anyone feels strongly about who it should be then tell me and I may change my mind. That aside, I hope the chapter was okay, I tried to boot it out a bit quicker than ordinary so I hope things mesh together alright. Obviously feel free to message me or review etc with concerns, questions, stuff like that. I'm literally always happy to hear anything at all, my heart goes mental and everything.**

 **Either way, have a smashing day!**


	20. Chapter 20

**It's been a shamefully long time since I last updated The Sole Survivor and for that I'm so sorry. I know excuses are no good but to be honest I've just had a hectic few months that had me quite down, too low to write anything worth saving. Anyhow, it's here now and I'm relatively happy with the finished work. I'e had a few thoughts as to where I can take this after finally watching Season 4, but I still won't follow the show too closely.**

 **So, enjoy, rate/review if you have the time, please! It really does mean the world to me to hear thoughts etc on my work, so review please or drop me a message if you want to talk about anything I've got planned. Thank you for reading!**

* * *

Jasper lay on the floor, his eyes wide with a misty sheen over them that had long since settled. A bird of prey, possibly a hawk, stood on his right hipbone and pecked eagerly at the exposed flesh on his stomach.

It was hard to believe that he was really gone, but the evidence was undeniable. Monty knelt beside his fallen friend, numb to everything around him even as he was shoved and pulled to his feet. He hadn't really understood what was going on when they shuffled into a clearing only for Jasper to fall a second later, an arrow straight through the hollow of his throat. He hadn't even thought to kneel to help his friend, because he couldn't be dead, right? Of course, he was.

The warriors around the four survivors were angry. Kane and Bellamy seemed angry too, though Monty and Raven were seemingly trapped in the same stunned silence that had them staring at Jasper's lifeless corpse despite being herded away.

"What do we do?" Bellamy grunted, being manhandled by one of the warriors. "I say we fight hard and fast while we still have our weapons."

Sighing, Kane nodded. "We need to shock them. Then run like hell."

"I can't run." Raven grumbled somewhat numbly.

"Then I'll fucking carry you, Reyes." Bellamy snapped. "I run, you shoot."

"We can't leave him here." Monty stated, his voice soft, barely a whisper. "He can't stay here, not without us. I can stay-"

"Monty!" Kane hissed urgently. "We attack on my count, so _wake up_."

And true to his word, they attacked on his count.

The fight, though panicked, was bloody.

The guns were an advantage and at the first shot, Monty all but shit himself back into the right state of mind. Barely a second looking down at Jasper before his handgun was drawn and he'd fired off three shots into the chest of the only warrior holding a bow. "You killed him!" He hollered, beginning to storm forward only to be grabbed by Kane.

The older man's eyes were wild, filled with anger, fear and blood. "We run-"

"But Jasper-"

"We run, dammit!"

And so they did.

True to his word, Bellamy grabbed Raven the second she fell behind, keeping pace with Kane while Monty panic-sprinted ahead. Kane's injured leg was a reminder that there was no time to slow down, so they didn't. Raven screamed into Bellamy's ear as she shot away, landing as many hits as she could.

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Miles away, the group of six barely even heard the shots ring out. In fact, the only one who did was Clarke, and even she wrote it off as rainfall or possibly even a bird having pooped loudly outside their makeshift home. Hey, stranger things had happened.

Sighing, the blonde sat up and leaned every which way to crack her back as best she could. Was today the day that they would save the world? She didn't know, but she knew that it would be the day that they'd at least reach the reactor.

As much as Clarke wanted to take a moment to herself, or even to just go into the foliage to get her morning dump out of the way on her own, she knew that wandering off alone was dangerous. She couldn't even chance five feet away to crouch behind a tree, knowing that if she was taken, she would more than likely be killed. She wondered, albeit briefly, was she right to have killed that man? Abraham had knocked him out, but she had just don it. Killed him.

Logically, it made sense that killing him was correct, but he hadn't once fought back. Even with Abraham's arm around his neck, he had held his hands up and not once made a move to harm anyone. Clarke sighed and shook her head, she could forgive any of her actions while the world was still in peril; this definitely wasn't the time for a self evaluation.

Groaning a few feet away, Abraham rolled in River's grasp, waking slowly. Clarke watched the sleepy assassin as he looked down at the brunette who was much shorter than he was, as he smiled, as he lay the softest of kissed on her forehead, chuckling as she snorted in her sleep. _This_ , Clarke knew, was what they were fighting for. It wouldn't matter how many people they slaughtered if they failed their mission, because _this_ , this display of affection would never see the light of day. They would all be dead and their suffering would be for nought.

"Abraham." Clarke's voice, abrupt and raw, immediately stirred the large man more, rousing him fully as he looked across in what little light there was at Clarke. "I need to go to the bathroom. Mind watching my back?" Part of her wanted to ask him more abut Lexa and about growing up on the ground, it seemed to make everything so much more real, but the rest of her wanted to discuss waking the others and readying for their journey. Would she have time to ask about Lexa if the world ended? No, but if they wanted to save the world, then talking wasn't a first priority.

Nodding, Abraham rolled carefully above River, holding himself over the sleeping woman with one last fond look before moving silently across Octavia and Indra to get to the exit of their little sleeping enclosure. Indra woke briefly, stabbing at Abraham with her blade when she found him over her, thankfully stopping with the sharp of her blade at his crotch when she realised who he was, tucking it back into her pocket and closing her eyes and he chuckled and made to crawl out of the tight hole. "Of course, Wanheda." His voice was still groggy from sleep, but it was clear that his mind was waking more with each passing second.

Clarke followed him out a moment later, smiling her thanks when she passed him and rounded a large tree, not caring to go further before dropping her pants and doing her business.

Not bothered, Abraham kept his back to Clarke but kept his ears ready and his eyes wide open. "How many more miles do we have to cross, Wanheda?" He asked, unphased by the fact that Clarke was still peeing.

Thinking, Clarke took a moment, knowing that Tekken would be a better one to ask. "Ten, maybe? It depends how many of the old roads are still okay. We can probably make it for midday if we all wake up now and get moving soon. Then we secure our perimeter and set about shutting it down."

Abraham nodded. He didn't at all understand anything to do with nuclear power or any such places that this power was stored, nor did his understand the disabling of an unsteady reactor, but he knew that he would follow Clarke until his end, just as Lexa would have. "And how is it that we do this? I do not mean to be negative, but this is a dangerous mission, no? It is dangerous because we know not what to expect?"

"Exactly right." Clarke answered when she was done, pulling her pants up after cleaning herself off and kicking soil over the small hole that she'd dug out. "Raven's the one that knows the most since she dealt with the Ark's power grid a few times, but this isn't like that apparently. She said something to me about rods and maybe fuses. We'll have to wait with her unless there are instructions."

Together, Clarke and Abraham woke the others and the six of them had a quick wash in a nearby stream before setting off. Clarke walked up front with Tekken, Indra walked with Abraham and River walked at the back with Octavia.

They didn't speak as they walked. Instead, River whistled an eerie old tune that she remembered her grandmother humming before she was floated. River owed her life to the woman who was brave enough to steal in order to save her. Had her grandmother not taken medicine from under Jaha's nose, River would have died of a fever. One life to save another, that's what her grandmother had said before stepping into the airlock with a smile. River hadn't watched after that, but she'd never forgotten that song.

Her muscles ached and her eyebrow was stinging. Clarke had put a couple of stitches in it by the stream, but they all knew it would bare a scar for the rest of her days. That stupid bird had done a real number on her.

River and Octavia panted as they walked, both drowning in sweat and growling at every noise around them. Everyone was on guard, knowing that more natives could be in the woods, but as they neared their destination, it seemed that they had other worries.

"This is the end of the trail." Clarke told them all when they stopped. A building had clearly crumbled across their path, leaving a mountain of rubble directly where they needed to walk.

River felt her stomach drop. They needed a new route. "Can't we go over it? It's just like big sand, right? Or gravel?"

"Our path around this would be quicker. Climbing over would be strenuous and we would need to use our hands to climb." Tekken replied, smiling sadly. "We could, of course, try, but we do not know what lies the other side."

Rolling her eyes, Octavia wiped some sweat from her brow. "We don't know that another way would be any better. What if this is just how things are around here now?"

"I say we go over it. Higher ground, all that shit." River stated, looking up the pile as if she was ready to kill it and eat it. Not that one could kill a fallen building of course, but she looked willing to try. "We're so nearly there and this is the most direct route. If we walk away from this and find the next route is exactly the same, then we've wasted daylight."

"Plus we've killed locals now." Octavia added, the two of them seeming to back one another.

"Right." River nodded. "We've killed natives, we should get back to the ship as soon as we can."

"No." Clarke, however, shook her head. "We should split up. Find another route-"

"Split up?" Octavia scoffed loudly. "Clarke, all we have to fucking do is send one person up the rubble pile and that's it! Why the hell would we-"

"O, what if someone goes up there and falls back down with an arrow in their head? We need a vantage point-"

"Then we find one _together_! We don't split up, there are only freaking six of us anyway, groups of three would be suicide-"

"Enough!" Of course, it was Indra who ended up putting a stop to things. She was done listening to the children bicker. Commander of death or not, it was annoying. _"Oktevia, Riva_ , with me. _Ibrahim_ , _Wanheda, Tekken_ , together. We do not leave one another's sight. We progress up the rubble, if we sense danger then we seek a new route. _Sha_?"

Smirking, Abraham stepped forward and nodded. " _Sha, Indra_." His voice was deep, stern, commanding. It made River wonder what exactly their fate would be if things went well. If things went really well, what would become of them?

She didn't have time to think more, however, as Octavia began to make determined strides up the rubble, grabbing onto enormous pieces of fallen walls where she could, pulling herself up. With a quick glance back to Abraham, River smiled, even more so when he smiled back and nodded, then she turned and followed Octavia.

Together, the group pushed forward, never losing sight of one another. By the time Octavia and Indra had reached the top of the fallen building, Abraham had helped Clarke to the most stable point of a high tree. River stood a few feet below the other women, scrambling the last few feet only for her breath to completely leave her body upon seeing what lay in front of her. In front of them all.

"Fuck." She breathed out, taking in the miles upon miles of a fallen city. Buildings were piled high upon one another, some of them seemed to be lying down, still intact, but others were simply piled of dust. One thing that could be said for it all, however, was that the foliage was consistent all over. For every building that lay on the ground, a hundred trees, plants and vines shot from the windows, the cracks in the walls, the doors. Despite all of the damage that mankind had done, nature had found its way back.

What really struck everyone though, was the building. Just one. A single building. It stood, thick and low to the ground, sturdy, alone. There was no life around it. It was as if it was infected and the green wanted nothing to do with it. "Is that it?" Indra asked, panting with sweat coating her brow.

The three women looked across to the tree where Abraham stood on a thick branch, Clarke and Tekken one a slightly lower one. "It's that one?" Octavia hissed, though her tone wasn't venomous. She was curious, clearly awed and unable to shout.

There were a few seconds of silence as Clarke simply looked out at the building before them all that lay possibly two miles away at most. Then she just nodded. "That's it." She confirmed. "That's the one."

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Navigating their way through and over buildings took time. A lot of time. By the time the group reached the building, the sun was already beginning its descent from noon. They were all tired, sweaty and dirty, but sheer determination kept them moving. More than once, Abraham had been the only one able to get up to a certain ledge and had ended up leaning down to lift the others up, so he hoped to high hell that no one sprung up on them while his arms were still so tired.

"Do we just open the doors?" Tekken asked when they finally reached the building

River couldn't help but roll her eyes. "It's a nuclear reactor, I think we're gonna have to be a little more high-tech than just opening the door-"

"Are you guy coming in or what?" Clarke asked, standing in the now open doorway. River's mouth shut immediately.

The inside of the building, they found, was eerie. In Indra's words, it was "bleeding death from every corner" and no one could find any argument against her. The walls and floors alike were all but gone, hidden beneath years of dust, making every step feel soft and oddly terrifying. River, for one, feared stepping in a hole and not knowing about it until her leg was through the surface. Or even a trap.

"We should radio the others." Clarke stated, the sound of her voice being the only sounds other than their collective breathing. The dust covered their footfalls and left no noise in its wake.

Nodding, Octavia shrugged off the dead birds that she had strung to her belt, letting them fall to the floor. "Is there anything else we can be doing? Like, did Raven say what we need to do?"

It was a sad shake from Clarke's head in return. "She's the only one of us who can do this. Maybe Monty."

Scoffing, Octavia barked out a laugh. "So we took all the survivors but they got all the nerds? Fucking great."

River couldn't help but smile. It really was just their luck. In fact, no, just their stupidity. They'd traded brawn for smarts and it hadn't paid off. Sure, they were here, but without Monty and Raven they may as well have stayed on the boat with Thorne.

Thinking of him, she hoped the little meat sack was okay. She'd left him with food, water and his mother's hide, but she hadn't been able to grant him access to the outdoors. She knew that wasn't fair of her, that he'd starve or dehydrate if she didn't return in the window of two weeks, but the idea that he'd run off to find her only to meet his end was enough to crush her heart. She had to keep him safe, even if that meant locking him on the boat with no company until they returned.

"We should signal first." Abraham spoke up with a certain air of authority to his voice. Perhaps it was that paired with how positively filthy he was looking, but something about what he had going on made River horny. Terrible timing, right? Well, yeah, but she figured it was probably something to do with not knowing how long they had left together. "We don't know what kind of situation they are in. We should signal before we speak in case they are not alone."

"Wait for them to signal back." Clarke nodded, setting about taking the radio from her bag and holding it for a second, looking at those around her before she gave the button on the front four firm clicks.

River didn't like the whole situation. This place was too damn quiet. "I'm gonna look around." she grumbled, noting Clarke's nod. It seemed that the blonde was set on just watching the radio; willing it to speak with the voice of a friend.

River was actually sort of surprised to see Abraham's hulking form follow her when she made her first few steps. She'd have thought that he would stick with Clarke, especially in such a creepy place, yet there he was. She was glad that he'd chosen to follow her. She didn't, however, pretend to think for even a second that she thought he would protect her if they were suddenly not alone and those vile birds were back.

Together, the sole survivor and the hulking assassin made their way to the furthest point in the room where they could clearly see a door along with a plaque. River eagerly rubbed the dust from the glass before sighing and reading it aloud. "No unauthorised personnel past this point." It really was just their luck.

Creasing his brow, Abraham looked at the foreign words before them. "How did you know that?" He asked her, impressed immediately.

Chuckling, River swiped a little more dust away to reveal what she'd been able to read through it. "Looks like they wrote it in a bunch of languages."

"I take it that we do not class as authorised?"

"You'd take it right, big guy." River grumbled, angrily punching at the door in front of them. It wasn't a hard punch, but Abraham still reached out and placed a large hand on her shoulder.

"If this is the way that we need to go, then we shall find a way."

River nodded and took a step back, stepping into him. He didn't move though and instead wrapped a firm arm around her shoulders and chest before leaning down to kiss the top of her head. Sighing contently, she dared to tilt her head back and look up at those stupidly blue eyes that were already looking down into her brown ones. Heat pooled in her stomach -and admittedly her groin- and she decided to simply lean up and kiss him. How could she not when she didn't know how much time they'd have left together?

Abraham grumbled into the kiss, unashamed in showing his pleasure, though he did pull away but a moment later, softly laying a kiss on River's injured brow. Something in his eyes had changed, that much was clear.

Determined, he stepped around River with his axe trailing against the ground. Then, with a mighty deep breath, he swung it in a full ark over his head and into the door.

Shocked, River jumped back and allowed a squeak past her lips, only for it to become a laugh a second later when they door fell from its hinges. Abraham had chopped a door down? Damn straight he had. "Holy shit!" She exclaimed, strangely happy despite their circumstances. "That was fucking awesome!"

Smirking, Abraham chuckled and removed his axe from the fallen door with a gruff grunt. River would have been lying if she'd have said that she wasn't even more turned on by him now. "After you." He spoke with a thick, chesty voice. It sounded like some of the dust had made its way into his mouth and the big oaf just wasn't planning on coughing it away.

River couldn't help but smirk at him. "After me?" She teased jovially. She didn't know what had come over her all of a sudden, but she couldn't help but think that if this was to be their last day on Earth, she was glad to spend it with him. "Pussy." She jibed playfully before ducking through the door with determined steps. She could hear Abraham's response of a single laugh, then his heavy feet as they followed hers, shaking the brittle walls around them. It was no wonder Abraham had been able to take down such a strong looking door if even the walls were struggling to stand. "We need to be quick in here. Down this corridor, check if we should be this way, back to the others. No wasting time."

Just as quickly as her mood had lifted, it dropped. The floor look about as thick as a playing card, buckets of dust coating it, making it all too soft below foot. It would give them the element of surprise against anyone inside the facility... or it would give the enemy the same advantage against them. The walls, thin and flimsy, were covered in scratch marks that ran deep into the surfaces for as far as River could see. She tried not to look at them, tried not to imagine the way people would have clawed to get in or out when the radiation first hit, she tried not to imagine the scream and the sheer terror of it all. And just when it became too much, a hand clasped hers. At first she jumped, but of course it was just Abraham.

The assassin and the sole survivor. An odd pair, but much like salt and cucumber on a sandwich, River knew all too well that sometimes an unexpected duo is the best. She also knew that the fish from her lake tasted amazing on the last of the Station's crackers from the emergency rations. God, she missed crackers and bread, she even missed her fish. In fact, just the station in general-

"No unauthorised personnel beyond this point. Haz- hazz-" Abraham's voice, deep and clear, brought River from her thoughts of salty, salty food, snapping her back to the hallway of scratches and a large sign that once hung from two chains on the ceiling, now swinging from just one with a the slight draft that opening the door had given them.

"Fuckin' creepy." River grumbled under her voice, only then looking at what word Abraham had struggled with. "Hazmats. _Hazmats necessary at all times beyond this point_. It means our suits. This is probably something to do with radioacti- Oh my fuck! We're in the right place, go get the others!" River's eyes shot wide open as she re-read the swinging sign and scoffed aloud, happy. Had they really found this place so easily? Well, she wasn't going to piss on these strawberries, she was just going to pick them and enjoy the moment.

It took Abraham a second too, though he was quick to drop River's hand and sprint the mere twenty or so steps that they had taken. River could hear him skidding around as she regarded the huge door that stood to the left. That was the way the sign would have pointed had it been hanging correctly. The door was a sturdy fucker, seemingly made of iron, not that River could tell metals apart that weren't gold or silver, but it looked like it was tough. The kind of tough that Abraham's axe was unlikely to cut down.

Before too long, everyone but Indra came hurtling towards her, though Clarke was quick to announce that Indra was watching the doors and waiting for the others to arrive. "Kane gave the signal back." Clarke stated somewhat numbly as the five of them looked at the mammoth door before them. Everyone, even Abraham, seemed to be regarding its enormity. It could take them days or even weeks to get through something of that size.

"And?" River prompted, silently praying for good news.

Sighing, Clarke chuckled darkly and gently slid down the wall and onto the filthy floor beneath their ten feet. "He didn't say much. Apparently something bad has happened, he wouldn't say anything else about it, but they should be a couple hours out. Seems like they had some trouble with the natives."

River couldn't help the clench of her jaw. "And their fucking birds."

"Hey, don't knock our dinner." Octavia smirked, drawing a dark chuckle from River. "Nothing more Grounder than eating your enemies, huh?" She joked, raising the dead birds as if for comedic effect.

"Reapers consume their dead, not us." Tekken pointed out, ever the correct one, though there was no offence in his voice.

"So, we what? We just wait?" River's words were directed at Clarke, but the blonde didn't look like much of a leader sat on the floor like she was.

Sighing, the blonde let her head fall back until it hit the wall behind her, then she shrugged. "Unless you think we can open that door." She replied flatly, the spark behind her blue eyes lost. River couldn't help but deflate along with her.

Loudly, without warning, Abraham swung his axe against the door. He grunted when metal met metal, a deep, guttural sound that was quickly thwarted by the screech of grinding metal. Everyone around jumped, but he simply set his features and swung again. Then again. Alas, no matter how many times he swung his trusty axe, he made but a scratch on the surface of the door's seemingly impenetrable surface.

"Abraham." River tried softly, but it was no use. He wouldn't stop until finally he was roaring with each swing, not seeming to care as each one shook his whole body. It took one swing that finally made him drop the axe on impact before River quickly stepped between him and the door before he could advance on it and attempt to use his fists. "Abraham!" She snapped when he still too a half step and backed her into the door. Looking up at him, she was shocked yet again to see a cold, hard stranger staring over the top of her head. Reaching up, she placed a gentle hand on his chest and was glad to watch his features soften as he looked down at her. "If this is the way that we need to go, then we _shall_ find a way." She told him, repeating his very words from earlier.

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Bellamy struggle forward. He had Raven's arm over one shoulder and Kane's over the other. Monty was trailing behind them a few steps back, keeping pace but never catching up.

Kane's leg was wrapped tightly to the point that he couldn't feel the bottom of it any long, but that was good, right? Bellamy was sure that Clarke would wrap a wound tightly, so he was sure that he'd done the right thing. At least Kane wasn't in pain, that was something, but he also couldn't put much weight at all on a fully numb leg, so was leaning on Bellamy for support.

Raven, though able to walk with her brace on, was struggling. At some point she'd fallen down and had insisted that her brace would hold. After all, there was no time to stop, and so they hadn't. She too had leaned on Bellamy, because he was strong. He was strong enough, so it was okay. Right?

Monty was clearly in some strange kind of state where he was aware of what was around them, but he didn't care. Not anymore. Not without Jasper. Having to witness his best friend's final moments had been surreal and vile, but now, to be able to replay every single second on a loop in his mind over and over, well, what else was he to do? It wasn't as if he actually cared about saving the world right now, he couldn't, he was in shock.

And still, Bellamy pushed on.

None of them had been friendly on the Ark and they'd all been sure to have their differences on the ground too, but there they were. Surviving. Together.

Did survival matter when you had no one left?

Bellamy asked himself if the survival of the human race would mean anything to him if he were to lose the people he now called family. Jasper was the first on this piece of land, but he didn't doubt that there would be more.

By the time they reached the nuclear plant, Bellamy's feet felt as if they were bleeding from all the walking, running and scrambling they'd done that day. None of them bothered to check behind them or even around the building's perimeter for attackers, they simply banged on the door and proceeded to fall through it when Indra and Clarke dragged it open.

Without even a second of though, Bellamy let Raven and Kane go and all but fell into a long overdue hug with Clarke. She didn't seem to mind, throwing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him tightly to her as Indra wrestled with the door, clapping Kane on the shoulder as he stumbled over to a small crate and collapsed on it. "Is O alright?" Bellamy asked into Clarke's neck, barely daring to ask. He felt Clarke nod against him and breathed a huge breath of relief.

"Jasper's dead."

Monty's words, though abrupt, were true.

"He's what?" Octavia's voice, unusually high, cut through the air as Clarke pulled away, shocked, looking up at Bellamy for an answer.

Clenching his jaw and moving away from the blonde, Bellamy moved a few hard steps closer to Octavia as she appeared on his right in a doorway, River, Abraham and Tekken appearing behind her. "He's gone." Was all Bellamy managed at first. "Dead." He tried again. "This place, its people, they killed him. Dead." Third time lucky.

"Poor fuck." River grumbled, blood dry around a sewn up gash in her brow.

"How?" Clarke demanded, her voice small and frail. How many people would she have to lose before it stopped hurting? Probably all of them, just to be sure.

Sighing, Kane took the burden of explaining things. Clarke settled by his poorly wrapped leg and quickly unwrapped it, listening as he spoke. He told her and the others everything that had happened from the rope-net-traps in the trees to the arrow that took Jasper's life from before him. Everyone listened and everyone had a moment of silence for the poor boy who had endured so much only to die on foreign soil.

It wasn't long, however, before River cleared her throat to Clarke and nodded to the door. Clarke nodded and told Raven and Monty about the situation, though only Raven replied, demanding help to the door.

Despite their differences, River was the first over to her, helping the young woman to her feet and guiding her over to the door that simply would not open.

"Raven, speak English." Octavia grunted a half hour later when Raven explained how the door worked.

Sighing, Raven glared at everyone as if to kill them all for not understanding. "Fine. Simple. The door needs like a security card. Find one. If not, we have to figure out the specific charge that goes between the card and the lock, or we cut through it but sparks and whatever's in there? Hell no." No one mentioned Abraham and his axe attempt. "So, find a card."

And just like that, they were running around like headless chickens.

Together, they all searched well into the night, even Monty, until finally Octavia shot up, victorious, and they all ran over to the lock as Raven swiped the card. It was only natural that it didn't work. Emmanual Rue wasn't authorised apparently. Neither was Natalie Beau, Regenald Beau or Jessica Harkin. Thankfully, however, Jonathan Smith, a British transfer as stated on his card, was authorised.

The room past the doors smelled like ass. As soon as Raven had announced that the air was safe, River had torn her helmet off only to stuff it back on and hold back a little vomit in her throat. "That was fucking deadly." She wheezed as Octavia had the balls to laugh at her.

"Enough!" Clarke snapped, glaring at them both one by one. "We had a fucking job to do, let's do it."

And so they did.

Each and every one of them worked tirelessly for hours into the morning before Kane finally announced that it was time to sleep or at the very least let a few of them sleep in shifts. River, Abraham, Kane, Indra and Tekken took the first shift sleeping. Octavia and Monty couldn't sleep, Clarke refused to and Raven was worried that she would miss something that only her techy brain would pick up on.

River found it beyond difficult to get to sleep, but was silently pleased when Abraham passed out with an arm protectively over her hip. He held her tightly as he slept and she took comfort in his arms. In any other situation, had they been alone and in a room that didn't smell like ancient farts, she would have woken and jumped him, but she let him sleep. She knew they'd all need their rest when the time came to find their way back to the boat and sail either home or to their next location.

Sadly, River didn't get much sleep at all before Raven and Clarke began to bicker loudly. Well, it wasn't so much bickering, more that Clarke couldn't believe that Raven's simple solution could work. "Raven, it can't be as simple as just putting some pieces of metal into some holes and walking away."

River practically heard Raven shrug. "They slow down any potentially critical reactions and ensure that any reactions happening are happening exactly how they're supposed to. The bars are behind glass with instructions, Clarkey, what more do you want?"

"It can't be that easy."

"This whole thing has hardly been easy." Octavia chimed in, joining the two of them. "Plus, if this place was melting down, would you wanna have to smack a computer around, enter a fuck load of digits, or just throw some rods into the reactor thingy? Simple is good when it comes to safety, right, Reyes?"

"Right." Raven confirmed. "Clarke, this might be it. For real."

With a deep, determined breath, Clarke nodded. "Do it."

* * *

 **So, I won't lie, I don't know when the next update will be. I started this story off with about five or so chapters written and ready to post, planning to stay ahead of it, but I got carried away with time and here we are. I hope that someone out there still cares about this little fic and wants it to continue, because I won't stop no matter how long it takes me.**

 **Please don't forget to leave your thoughts and feelings on it all for me! I'm more than eager to know what anyone's thinking!**

 **Beyond that, just have a great day!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Okay, so we're at Chapter Twenty-One and I think I've done relatively well churning this out before some ungodly amount of time has passed. I won't say that it's any good because honestly I wasn't feeling much of a spark through the whole chapter, but I want to get into the habit of writing and posting filler chapters when I'm stuck on certain areas. I'm currently watching Season Five of the show so hopefully I'll be able to stick sort of closely to that with this, it's just a case of deciding if I want the Final Conclave or if Abraham should take Lexa's place etc, it's a bit complicated for the time being but I'll sort things as quickly as I can!**

 **Massive thank you to the guest reader who reviewed my last chapter, I noticed that not a lot of people have viewed my more recent ones so it was truly lovely to hear back from one of you. honestly, just one review every now and against makes me certain that carrying on with this is the right thing to do, so thank you and please review again if you have time!**

 **So... enjoy!**

* * *

' _Rivers turn to oceans. Oceans tide you home._ ' Ah yes, Driftwood by Fleetwood Mac. River knew the song well and had fond memories of her grandmother singing it in a jolly, upbeat manner around the home that the family all stayed in on the Ark. It wasn't at all a jolly tune, but Eviana Nivalis had a way of bringing light to even the darkest moments. If River hadn't hid her face in her father's coat, she would have known that her grandmother even continued to smile as Chancellor Jaha opened the airlock behind her and committed her to the darkness of space.

Never before had River been so glad to see water again. When she woke, wrapped up in Abraham's arms on their stinky death-couch, Thorne screaming in her face, she couldn't help but lurch forward and kiss the snowy fawn. They'd been back on the boat for two nights and were officially headed home. They'd done it! They'd done all they could for the reactor and had practically sprinted non stop back to the boat.

Upon their arrival, River had never been so glad to smell the stink of fresh shit when the boat's doors opened, but fresh shit was good! Fresh shit meant that Thorne was alive and well. She cleaned all that up pretty sharpish and hugged the little guy as he screamed directly in her ear for a good two minutes.

Grinning, River gently rolled from Abraham's arms and tucked their blankets back around him, trying to keep him all warm and tucked in. Naturally, he opened curious eyes and grumbled sleepily. "Go back to sleep." River told him gently, smiling down at her stunning assassin and kissing his forehead.

With a light chuckle at her good mood, Abraham did as he was told and lay his head back down, holding the covers in his arms as if they were River.

Grinning as the boat rocked, River walked to the very back of it and dangled her feet off the edge. She stayed there and watched the sun rise, glad for the company when Raven limped over and slid down beside her. Neither of them had apologised vocally since falling out on the beach and almost coming to blows with one another, but they'd fallen into an easy peace which involved them just not being assholes to one another.

River almost couldn't believe that they were heading back with good news. The initial plan had been that they would head to a second site, but after using the long distance radio to contact Alpha Station, they'd been told that their second station was actually not giving out any pulse and was presumed to be dormant. There was no use in risking their lives to check it out, so they didn't.

Sadly, the survivors couldn't retrieve Jasper's body, but Monty had cried somewhat happy tears upon finding Jasper's stupid goggles in the boat. He quickly took to wearing them around his neck to make sure they were never misplaced or broken.

"So," Raven breathed out, breaking the silence between them. "we're headed home. Crazy, right?"

Nodding, River thought of home. It felt as if they'd been away for so very long, leaving home with no assurance of returning, yet there they were. It was crazy indeed. "Pfft, you're telling me, Reyes!" She exclaimed, her good mood shining through. "Honestly, every second since we got back on the boat feels like some kind of a dream, like we're gonna wake up back in those woods."

Her face turning down, Raven shook her head. "Fuck those woods." She grumbled, low and tough.

Thinking about everything that had happened, River nodded. The assessment seemed fair. "Fuck those woods." She agreed.

A couple of seconds was filled with soft footsteps approaching and then stopping. "Fuck the woods?" Came Clarke's voice, tired but still trying for humour. "That sounds like a less than sound idea." She joked. River could respect a tired woman trying to make jokes.

Scoffing, Raven spun. "What the hell else are we meant to fuck, Clarke-y? River and I don't swing that way!"

laughing aloud, River turned and winked at Clarke, giving Raven a playful shove. "Hey, speak for yourself, I happen to think Clarke's looking pretty fuck-able right now." She stated, amused when Clarke smirked and raised a brow as if to say _'really, guys? Shut up'._

For a second, Raven just laughed, but once she was on top of it again, she playfully regarded Clarke for a moment. "Sure, come to think of it, has she done something with her hair?" She was speaking to River, but of course their teasing was aimed at the Commander of Death herself.

Sighing jokingly, River nodded. "She has, she's trying to seduce me." She explained with a shrug as if it was the only outcome. "Listen, Clarke, if you wanna join me and Abraham, I'm sure we'd both welcome you with-"

Blushing beat red, Clarke quickly put a stop to things. "Oh god, River, stop!" She sputtered out, having River and Raven all but falling off the boat laughing.

"Nope, I know what it is." Raven gained her composure a moment before River, quickly jumping back in. "Clark doesn't want to fuck the woods, she's looking all pretty for Niylah!"

"Niylah? Who or what is a Niylah? Also, why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"

"Raven!" Clarke snapped, her blush deepening. "Niylah's no one- I mean, she's not _no one_ , but I mean she's... she's, well-"

And then River understood. "She's not Lexa." She voiced, her voice softening for Clarke's sake.

"She's not Lexa." Clarke admitted, her own voice holding a note of sadness for the woman she'd clearly loved.

Nodding, River looked up at the blonde with a smile. A comforting one she hoped. "And you feel guilty?"

"Is that so crazy?" Clarke asked, small and seeming defeated.

"Fuck no. But also yes." River shrugged as she spoke, eliciting the same shrug from Raven.

Clarke scoffed. "What?"

Shrugging in a large gesture, Raven took over. "Yeah, it's a grey area." She told Clarke, clearly having experienced it with Wick after losing Finn.

"Very grey." River added, thinking for but a moment about Matt. "Like worryingly so."

"I don't follow." Clarke admitted sheepishly.

Sighing, Raven leaned back onto her elbows to get a better angle looking up at the blonde. "Clarke, there's no rule-book on this. Moving on? It doesn't all happen at once."

"If this Niylah chick makes you feel good, then Lexa would be happy for you." River added with a sure nod.

Cackling, Raven spun on her side to face River, amusement in her eyes, "Oh, dude, you didn't know the Commander. She'd have fucking murdered Niylah!" River quickly smacked Raven upside the head, noting how Clarke didn't look too thrilled when Raven spoke about Lexa in a less than favourable way. "Ow!"

"Not helping!" River snapped, making a point to Raven of looking up at Clarke. "Look, Clarke, the world is trying to end around us, yeah? I'm sorry for being blunt, but Lexa is gone. She wouldn't want you to be all sad and stuff, right, so if Niylah makes you happy, then you have to be happy. You have to take what you can before it's gone."

"Right. Yeah. But... yeah."

"Good, so, what's your plan of-"

River, unlike Raven, had noticed Clarke's stutter. Stutters mean something lately. "But what, Clarke?" She asked, shutting Raven up.

Well, shutting her up for a moment. "Huh?"

Sighing, Clarke began to fiddle with her own fingers and thumbs, a sure sign of nerves. "I just, it's nothing, okay?"

Raising a brow, River gave Clarke her most _oh come on_ look she could muster. "Clarke. Come on. Don't fuck with me."

"Whatifthere'ssomeoneelse."

Eyes wide, Raven spun to look back at Clarke. "How many fucking words was that, Princess? Jesus Christ!"

How many words indeed. River hadn't been able to catch any of them, but if Clarke had been willing to open up once, they River hoped to get her to do it again. "Again but slower?"

Sighing, Clarke took a deep breath, drawing it in before releasing it with purpose. "What if there's... someone else?" She asked, holding her voice as steady as she could, ignoring the way it shook a tiny bit.

River smiled her comforting smile yet again. She knew it wasn't easy to be torn between two people, especially while still thinking about your dead lover, so she wanted to help Clarke. "Then tell us everything and we'll help." She replied, seeing a similar smile on Raven's face.

Nodding, Clarke opened her mouth to talk only to squeak and screw it shut when Bellamy wandered towards them, grinning impishly. "Hey. Mornin', you guys. Anyone hungry? We've got some fish and some nuts. Not the best haul, but it's better than the seaweed we thought we'd be stuck with." He greeted them all from just beside Clarke. If possible, it looked as if Clarke was even more nervous, and that's when River understood. "Hey, Clarke." Bellamy then added, ducking his head a little nervously, possibly to hide the little glint in his eyes.

Aware of River's knowing gaze, Clarke smiled awkwardly back and replied. "Bell. Hey, hi. You okay?"

Chuckling, Bellamy cleared his throat and stood up straight. The whole display was almost painful to watch, but River continued to do so because she lived for a bit of drama. "I'm good, Clarke. We're away from that place, we're in one piece. I'll be better once we're home, once we've said a few words for Jasper, you know?" Bellamy's voice deepened towards the end as his words were no long about Clarke and River could see how much death weighed upon him and Clarke. It was probably worse since Jasper had been one of the original Hundred.

Nodding understandingly, Clarke took a soft breath, no doubt thinking about Jasper. "Yeah, of course. And for Helios."

Inappropriate as ever, Raven piped up. "Who the fuck is named Helium?"

Smacking her leg quickly, River shot in before anyone got pissy with her. "Octavia's horse. Helios."

Raven's features darkened at that. She had certain feelings about the horse. "Right, the good meat that we're having a funeral for." And there it was.

Seemingly only just now aware that he and Clarke weren't alone, Bellamy shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "Well, uh, I'll go wake the others. Time for a shift change." He muttered, mostly to Clarke, before shuffling away with speed and red cheeks.

Silence fell over the three for a second, but River wasn't going to let that happen. "So... Bellamy, huh?" She asked directly up at Clarke.

"Oh!" Raven exclaimed, apparently not having seen anything that just happened right in front of her.

Groaning loudly, Clarke looked utterly defeated. "Maybe? I don't know! I mean, I think so, but maybe it's more a familial love? There's been _something_ there for a while, even before Lexa, but now she's gone I just- I don't know. Nothing makes sense without her." Her voice grew small to the end and River understood. The world was large and scary, more so without a loved one.

"You know, Clarke, take it from someone who lost both parents and the man I loved all in the space of a few hours. This place, no matter how hard we try to save it, it's out to kill us. You don't need to figure out exactly what you want from everyone in your life, but for what it's worth, Bellamy fawns over you like you're a bucket of water and he's on fire." River's words, although silly, were actually surprisingly wise for her. "I don't know this Niylah chick, but if she cares about you then she'll want you to be happy, even if that's without her. Same goes for Bellamy."

Looking a little spaced out, Raven just nodded. "That was a lot." She stated.

"Does it even matter anymore?" Clarke asked, trying to find meaning in this maddening world. "I mean, sure, we stabilised one nuclear reactor, but that doesn't mean the other teams will be successful. Becca told me that less than six percent of Earth would be habitable once the Death Wave comes-"

Scoffing, River shook her head. "That's _why_ it matters now, Clarke!" She exclaimed, amazed that she wasn't seeming to get it. "Look, Abraham and I are opposites, right? He'd fuck someone up for looking at him wrong, I'd probably just sleep on it. If the world ends then I wanna spend my time with him, with you guys. The people who count don't stop counting when shit gets tough. If the world _isn't_ ending, then fuck, even better! Either way, we owe it to ourselves to create the world we want to live in. That includes relationships, whether they're purely sexual, purely friendship, purely hunting partners."

"Right, you owe yourself happiness, Clarke." Raven chimed in, smiling softly.

With a long, tough sigh, Clarke nodded. "Thanks, you guys. We're gonna hit home in a few hours, so come and get some food and get packing." While Clarke walked away, River noted the way that uncertainty made the blonde go from being their leader to a scared young woman, just like the rest of them.

Turning her attention to Raven, River smirked and raised a brow. "So, Reyes, you're what, a half a day -maybe a day- from seeing Wick."

Alas, Clarke's mood seemed to have infected Raven. "Yeah."

"You don't seem as thrilled as you have been?"

"Yeah, well, he's not exactly a survivor, you know? I know he stayed back to help work on the Ark, but that doesn't mean he's still alive. Come on, let's go." Just like Clarke, Raven too then got up and walked away, leaving River sitting on the back of the boat, feet dangling over the edge, with her mood still relatively intact, but with a few sad sacks on-board with her.

"Fuck me, the mood on y'all today." She grumbled, lying back with the shake of her head and closing her eyes.

.

.

.

.

.

When land finally came into view, even Kane stepped away from the controls for a moment to simply look at their home with fond eyes. The boat's crew each took their time to simply admire what exactly they had a achieved.

River, impatient as anyone to get back onto dry land, leapt into the water when Kane announced that they should turn the boat around and back it towards land to make it easier to take out should they need it again. As far as River was concerned, that was too much time. What shocked her, however, was when Octavia jumped in after her.

Knowing that Octavia wasn't a strong a swimmer as she was, River didn't move as quickly as she could have, but they still made good time and beat the boat by a good two or three minutes. The second the feet of the warrior and the sole survivor touched firm ground, they sank to their knees and stuck their fingers in the earth beneath them. Octavia looked over at River and laughed. They looked ridiculous, drenched through to the skin, falling all over the soil as if it was the best thing since sliced bread.

Before long, Clarke, Kane and the others were stepping onto land, no one bothering to unload the ship. Abraham chuckled as he neared River, pulling her to her feet and drawing her to him. "To wear wet clothes is stupid." He stated quietly into her ear.

Smirking, she leaned up to get as close to his ear as she could, but her mouth just about reached his collarbone. "I'll bet you'd just love for me to take them off." She teased, stepping back out of his grasp and taking a few steps backward towards Octavia who was smiling knowingly and shaking her head. "C'mon, big guy, your move."

It dawned on River in that moment just how much had changed on their short trip. If Abraham had flirted with her before leaving, she would have probably tried to smack him, but now? Well, now she wanted to get him in her Station and lock the doors behind them both for a few days at least. "I shall be sure to make my move later." Abraham stated boldly, pulling River from her thoughts just in time to watch him smirk and walk ahead to where Clarke and Kane were already talking in hushed voices into the radio between them.

"We have a problem." Clarke stated almost immediately. River couldn't help but groan. When were they going to get a damn break? "Jackson and my mom's boat got back in a few days before us, they're in Arkadia now and they said that the Black Rain has already come. They're also treating some people for radiation sickness..."

Clarke's words hung awkwardly in the air, it was clear that there was more to be said, so why not say it? "Clarke-" River started, but Abraham spoke over her.

"They're treating Azgeda." He growled, sure of his words.

"No!" Clarke amended quickly. "No, not Azgeda. It's Luna."

River looked at Abraham now that everyone was stood together around the radio. She watched as his face shifted to something dark. "Who's Luna?" River asked, wanting to know who could elicit such a reaction.

"Luna is not worthy of treatment." Abraham growled. "She is _Natblida_ , like myself and Lexa. She was to fight in Lexa's conclave, but she ran after killing her own brother. She is a coward and I will gladly execute her for-"

"She's the only one who survived." Clarke's words cut through Abraham's, but that large man looked even more angry with this news. "My mom thinks it might be the Nightblood. The only thing that Luna has that the others didn't is her Nightblood, Mom thinks that it might have kept Luna alive."

"I like to think that Lexa's spirit is keeping Luna alive if only to see her dead at my feet." Abraham's voice, deep and deadly, was not to be taken lightly. No one spoke for a moment after these words and even River wasn't too sure what to do. Was this Luna chick really so bad because she didn't want to kill a bunch of kids for a throne. She didn't, however voice this. She would ask Abraham later when they were alone, she could get through to him then and really hear what he had to say, otherwise he would remain stiff with everyone around.

An awkwardly dead air settled over the group as Clarke and Kane continued to talk to Abby and Jackson over the radio. Clarke asked the more medical questions, while Kane asked what they could possibly do with this information. It came about that while they'd been gone, Jaha had somehow come up with the idea that some doomsday cult or something like that had left bunkers; huge bunkers with air filtration systems and space enough for thousands as well as the means to produce food should the ground become inhabitable.

It seemed already that no one was putting much stock into them having done their share of saving the world. The sad truth was, as far as they understood it, that the Death Wave was coming no matter what, it was just a weak prayer that things wouldn't be as terrible as the name implied if they managed to reach nuclear hot-spots in time and stabilise them. River, however, knew that the Death Wave was probably given its name for a reason and not a nice one.

"So Jasper died for nothing?" Monty's voice, so very hollow, was heard by all.

"Monty-"

"Yes." Octavia cut Clarke off sharply, no longer smiling. None of them were smiling anymore. Gone was the joyous group of survivors who were simply happy to see land, because now they knew. They knew that their mission may as well have not happened. "Jasper died for nothing. We accomplished _nothing_. Jasper died, Kane got shot, we all ran ourselves fucking _ragged_ for this and-"

"O, we couldn't have known." Clarke, however, didn't sound as if she wanted to fight.

"Guys." River snapped. They were finally fucking home and no one was taking a damn second. "Guys!" She boomed when they continued to squabble. "Shut the _fuck up_ right the fuck now, I'm sick of you all crying! We did what was the only thing we could at the time, now we have other shit to do, let's just do our other shit-"

"And then keep shitting until we die?" Octavia scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and giving River a pointed look.

Laughing humorlessly, River shrugged."What the hell else do we do? We can't just stand here and complain. You think Jasper would want us to just whine about our problems? I didn't know that lanky bastard for long, but what I understood was that he'd want us all to pour a few drinks tonight then pick our asses back up in the morning and move on with what we gotta do. The world ain't gonna save itself and it sure as fuck doesn't look like we get to rest until it's done."

"Tonight we rest." Clarke confirmed, reaching out and placing a hand on River's shoulder in thanks. "We eat. We drink. We _live_. Then, tomorrow, we help make sure there's a world left to live on when all of this is over."

The walk to the stashed Rover was an awkward one. It didn't matter how many times Clarke put inspiration into the others, there was always a clear vibe in the group that no one was really feeling it. The worst part was that no one really understood the situation. It wasn't clear whether or not the Death Wave was going to wipe them all out or possibly not since their victory over the nuclear plant. Everything was unclear and it seemed that none of them enjoyed uncertainty.

From the Rover, the group drove first to River's Station. It took a good number of hours and they were all noticeably glad to see it empty. Of course, those who had family and loves ones would have loved to see them, but the survivors were happy in that moment to simply be alone in one another's company.

Everyone was busy doing something, from Bellamy unloading the Rover, to Abraham fixing a forgotten snare, to Clarke setting up the long distance radio indoors. Octavia and Raven busied themselves with setting up blankets for everyone inside, Indra set out to hunt small nearby animals, Monty set about putting together a small shrine for Jasper, Tekken helped Abraham by checking the other snares. Selfishly, River simply opened the small closet in which she had spent so much time. Her shelves were still in there, untouched, her blankets were still just as she left them.

She couldn't help but fall into them, and so she did, curling up with a groan and closing her eyes, relishing the feel of their stale warmth against her icy skin. She thought about the state of the world, how everything that had happened had lead to this exact moment in her life. She almost asked herself if this was their punishment from up above, the middle finger of some celestial being, but she dropped that pretty quickly. She knew that none of this was about morality. They weren't being punished with an apocalypse, this was the way of their world. She couldn't say she blamed it though, she sometimes felt like just starting over and it wasn't as if she'd had the petty quarrels of man happen on her skin.

Before she knew it, the brunette was asleep. She hadn't even closed the door to her closet, meaning that everyone could see her as she spilled over the small space she'd made for herself so very long ago. As she slept, she dreamed of a better world brimming with beautiful life. In her dream world, there was no such thing as stupid nuclear reactors, no Death Waves, no Grounders or Skaikru, nothing like that. There was just peace, just harmony, just love.

While River lay sleeping, before too long the others stopped working. Indra returned with her haul of a few rabbits, a squirrel and a few birds of varying sizes, Octavia had started a fire and everyone had huddled around it. Clarke and Kane spoke in hushed tones, though their words were fond and not at all being hidden.

It felt alien to most of them now, being out of the confines of the boat and actually being able to rest. Resting on the ship had hardly been easy with all of the threats, but being home or at least near to home meant that things were looking up. They could all calm down, even if not fully.

River was woken when a few words were said for Jasper. Monty, Raven, Bellamy, Kane, Clarke and Octavia wept. Their tears drenched the already sodden ground beneath their feet, reminding them all of the sacrifices that the ground demanded. River though somewhat bitterly that perhaps Jasper was the lucky one of them all. Of course, she didn't voice this though, but it was there, swimming around her groggy mind. Later in the night, moonshine was guzzled down by all, leaving no one on watch, though the survivors hardly cared anymore. They drank deeply, they ate well and they had a merry night in name of everyone who they had lost.

For the first time in a long time, the usually vigilant group let down their guard. None of them cared for safety, none for modesty nor for anything much. By the time they all stumbled to the collection of blankets that littered the floor, they were thoroughly drunk with full bellies, wet feet and merry but heavy hearts. Perhaps, had they known, they wouldn't have slept so easily. Had they known that Azgeda soldiers marched through the streets of Polis, taking the city by force, they wouldn't have drank quite so deeply. Had they known that Roan seated himself on the very throne that _Nithaihefa_ and _Wanheda_ still saw as Lexa's, they would had carried on in the Rover instead of staying at The Station.

Alas, they didn't know. They couldn't have known. And so they slept. River and Abraham, a curious pair, were the last to fall asleep after a somewhat pathetic failed attempt at sex that left them both still very much clothed and simply lying on top of one another, their alcohol infused breaths mingling while only Monty sat awake. He sat at the door and looked up at the stars, wondering if Jasper was sat up there, staring down at them all and laughing at the state of them. Smiling, he nodded. That was exactly what his best friend would be doing, he knew that much.

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 **I've never been shy about the fact that Jasper isn't a favourite of mine, but I wanted to do right by him and give him a good send off, I'm sorry there was so little of it, however.**


	22. Chapter 22

**In case anyone wondered what I meant by "filler chapters" last chapter, this is it. I want to be posting more frequently and I know I can pop a few of these out more quickly that just one odd chapter every few months, so I figured this would be favourable.**

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"So wait, we're getting on the boat again?" River asked, her voice growing small at the thought of going through that vile, laborious trip again. She even felt her heart sink a little.

"No." Clarke answered quickly. "If the Ark can survive going back up then we need to be getting ready."

Sighing, Kane leaned back in his chair and groaned. "The Ark can only support a hundred people, Clarke, we need to start making decisions."

"Okay, well we're going to need medical staff, engineers-"

"No, Clarke." Kane shook his head and leaned forward. "I mean that we need to talk about what's going to happen to everyone else who _isn't_ essential personnel."

The room grew tense in that moment despite the small group inside it. Only Kane, Clarke, Abby, Jaha, Abraham, River, Raven and a few others were in there. River was only allowed in because her Station may be needed for spare parts. "Like me." She added gruffly. "You want to tear apart the only protection that I'll have, then leave me down here. Tell me how that's fair, Clarke."

"And my people?" Abraham raised his voice from where he was stood behind River's chair. "Unless, of course, you invite me here to tell me to my face that my people will all burn when the wave comes, then I suggest we talk about how this ship will be split and how-"

"The Ark will not be split." Came the voice of Thelonious Jaha. He was a proud man, but pride was almost never smart and in that moment could have seen him dead at the hands of Lexa's assassin had River not reached behind and touched his leg in warning.

Sighing, she leaned forward and planted her elbows on the table. "No." Was all she said.

"No?" Clarke questioned, letting her word hang.

Shrugging, River shook her head. "No." She stated once more. "No, you cannot tear my home apart. No, you cannot just leave thousands of us here to die. No, you cannot just make plans to save the few while you fuck the many."

"River, it's not like that-"

"Pardon me, _Wanhede_ , for interrupting." Abraham began, placing a hand on River's shoulder and squeezing. "You brought me here and told me that there are no plans to save my people. You have told us that only the important people of Skaikru will be saved, totalling one hundred. Trikru alone totals more than one hundred times as many people. Every clan, thousands of years of survival, shall be lost. I wonder, would you have saved Lexa?"

Clarke visible flinched at that. "Abraham-"

"When she died, I swore to stand by your side when our paths crossed. I swore to her that no harm would come to you, but do you think that she could agree to this? The Lexa I knew would not have stood at your side and smiled as you condemned her people, so neither will I. May her spirit have mercy on me, but if there is to be a war for safety, then I _shall_ lead my people to safety."

"Abraham." River's eyes were wide. She had never expected a threat of war to come from his lips.

Sighing, he looked down as she looked up. "I fight for us all to live as equals. If only one hundred of us shall be saved, then these numbers will represent each of the clans. If not, then we shall be at war and we shall take this Ark for ourselves."

Chuckling, Jaha leaned back in his chair, not bothered. "You don't know how to fly the ship." He stated simply.

Abraham's face set, but not in defeat. "Then you would fight and die for no one's future. As a _Natblida_ , I can take Lexa's throne whenever I please. Luna is the only other who could challenge me, yet she lies on a table as you help her to breathe with the use of machines. The Conclave would be quick and the armies would unite-"

"Would they?" Abby spat. "They barely came together for Lexa, but you? Who are you, really?"

"I am an assassin." Abraham stated simply. "My people respect violence. We respect death. I am their ideal leader, and so we would march on Skaikru and let it be known that here, now, I offered you a choice."

The room fell silent for a long moment. "He's right." Bellamy stated, only now alerting everyone to his presence in the corner. "Because once again, this is about the elite saving themselves. Doctors, engineers,-"

"Farmers. Hardly elite." Jaha reasoned, still not seeming too concerned.

"Half of the farmers aboard the Ark were bio-engineers anyhow, they were still the elite. They'd still been able to afford to live a decent life, study more than just in school." River's voice cut through the bullshit pretty damn fast. "Don't try and talk your way out of it, at the end of the day, survival needs to be split. If you think I'm gonna try and help you get this shit bucket into the sky so you can leave me down here to die then fuck you, fuck all of you. We need to think again and this time everyone needs to be in with an equal chance. Skaikru and Grounder alike."

"And what the hell can Grounders do up there?" Jaha snapped.

"They can learn!" River boomed, shooting up from her seat. Abraham's hand stayed on her shoulder but her guess was that if she went after Jaha, his hand would quickly fall. "You talk about them like they're animals, as if they can't learn, but you know what? Indra, Tekken and Abraham saved all of our asses out there and that counts for something. I know you stayed here while the rest of us saved the world so that you could repent for turning everyone into brain-dead zombies, I know that you think you're safe because you were an engineer, but guess what."

"What?"

"Wells is dead because of you."

"River!" Clarke barker, eyes wide.

Chuckling, River shook her head. "You sent one hundred kids down here to die. You murdered over three hundred people for oxygen. Now what? Now you think that you can off thousands more and go back up there? Fuck no, I'll kill you myself before I let that happen."

And with silence deafening the room, River left.

She didn't know who or if anyone had followed her, but she needed to get out.

Without even thinking, she grabbed a nearby horse who had been hitched to a post, untied him and launched herself onto his back. She'd never ridden a horse before, but that didn't matter, she just wanted it to run. She needed out of Arkadia.

But then, without warning, before she could jab the horse's side, there was a hand on her knee. In her hazy state, she chanced a glance and ended up locking eyes with a knowing Abraham and a confused Octavia. poor Octavia who hadn't been invited into the room.

Without further ado, Abraham dragged River back on the horse almost a foot before swinging himself somehow gracefully to sit in front of her. "Speak to Clarke." He told Octavia, no fondness in his tone. "Tell people that River's Station is a safe haven for all while we think. We need to find a way to fortify it for anyone who stays behind."

"Stays behind?" Octavia asked, her head clearly spinning.

"Ask Clarke." Abraham repeated, grabbing the horse's mane and giving it a mighty kick.

The stallion, black as night, bolted immediately. River clung to Abraham as it did, wrapping her arms around his torso and stuffing her face into his back. She didn't even realise that she was crying until sobs began to shake her body.

Abraham rode the horse hard for a good half hour before her finally slowed near a stream and jumped off, bringing River with him. They ended up sitting on the riverside together as the horse drank, simply leaning into one another for some kind of support. It wasn't long before the thundering of hooves made Abraham all too aware that he had left his axe in Arkadia and that Thorne was there too. Alas, the hooves were soon accompanied by the little meat sack's screams of terror and the assassin couldn't help but smirk a little when Octavia came into view on her new horse, a wriggling sack hanging from the saddlebags. Behind her, many riders were on their horses, all from different and varying clans, even some Skaikru.

Quickly, Abraham stood, River following suit. Beside Octavia, Bellamy and Kane could both be seen, their few belongings on their horses.

"We need to fight for Polis." Octavia stated loudly. "Azgeda struck while no one was taking concern, but now we need to take it back. We have a king fit for a throne. _Nitheda_ has a nice ring to it."

Abraham's chest swelled with pride in that moment. "Still," He started. "we will not survive _Praimfaya_ in Polis. We need to find something below ground, like Mount Weather. And if not, then we need to be prepared to take the Ark. By force."

"We need to get on digging a trench for River's Station" Came Raven's voice, shocking River/ The mechanic had chosen to side with them? Perhaps she knew she wouldn't be taken back up since the almighty Jaha knew what she knew and had two working legs."By all accounts, if this is like last time, the Wave will level everything, so we need to dig and get below ground. Most of the tech was left inside because we had no need to take things like the bio-farm and the air filtration system. If we can fortify the walls, we have a good chance of surviving in the Station."

"It's not enough." River stated loudly, shaking her head. "Yes, we work on it, but we need to be looking for a larger solution. We need to save as many as we can."

"And we shall. One step at a time." Abraham's words seemed to inspire everyone despite the fact that there were so few of them. River understood that though, he was a powerful man with a good heart, she knew that at the very least, she would follow him.

"One step at a time." She repeated from his side.

* * *

 **Thoughts? Feelings? Basically, please please please tell me what you're thinking so I know whether or not this teeny chapter format works for the story.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Two updates in one day? Hell yeah.**

 **I've been feeling inspired by my new-found ability to write short chapters and take the pressure off myself when it comes to whopping out at least four thousand words. After all, the first chapter only had about one and a half thousand, so it must be okay!**

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Scabs and sores had long since developed on River's hands. All the same, she worked between Octavia and Kane, digging dirt from around the Station. It hard taken the large group of thirty just a day to pile dirt, stones and twigs in a circle around it to stop the water from getting into their work areas. From there, they had to throw the fish into the water and use buckets to remove excess water that was still in a pool at their feet.

Now, working hard, it had been two weeks. The end of the world was nearing but Raven seemed quietly confident that the Station would hold, and so they worked. Everyone worked hard, knowing that when the time came, they would all get a space inside. Before long, thirty became fifty, fifty became a hundred and eventually people were climbing up into the unsearched parts of the Station just to lie their bedding down for somewhere to sleep that didn't have them crammed between two strangers.

Sadly, River had said goodbye to the shelves in her closet to make some room. She, Octavia, Abraham, Raven, Kane, Bellamy, Indra and Tekken all slept inside there. She and Abraham both managed to squeeze into the hole in the wall in which she used to stash her boar-tusk spear and bone knives, though since he was usually away, Octavia would crawl in with her and create more space for the others in the closet. It was always a tight fit for everyone involved, but it had only taken a week for them to all get used to waking up with someone else's breath in their faces.

More often than not, Abraham was riding to nearby villages to spread word of what was happening. He told River that he knew people in most villages since his work for Lexa had taken him everywhere, but it wasn't about getting to his friends. No, Abraham didn't really have friends. It was about telling absolutely everyone and giving them all equal opportunity to do what they wanted.

With a mighty grunt, River announced that she'd hit rock.

Together, she, Octavia and Kane used their sore hands to dig around it, tying muddy, wet ropes around any corners they could find before shouting up to Bellamy who lead the two horses that were on the other end of the rope. Together, the stallion and the gelding lifted the stone from the pit and everyone got back to work.

The days blended into one more often than not. Everyone work at the crack of dawn or sooner, the torches were lit for light most mornings and everyone got to digging. Initially, Raven's idea of suspending the Station above the pit where they were digging had seemed mad, but apparently every Station had "feet" on which it would have stood before the very first launch all those years ago.

The feet held the Station easily at about ten feet above ground level, meaning a ladder had to be crafted for everyone to get in and out. It made the digging easier, not having a huge building in the way, but having it looming over your head while you worked beneath it was beyond terrifying.

When River asked how they would lower the Station into whatever hole they dug, she had initially laughed when Raven said that they'd disengage the feet and let it fall, but in the end it made sense. That thing had survived crash-landing from space, a few feet down into some mud wasn't going to be the end of it. That also meant that if there were earthquakes or anything that shifted that geologically during the Death Wave, there was less chance of the Station being compromised and tearing underground.

The digging was tough, unrelenting work. River hissed in pain when another of her sores tore in her hand, but she was a hard worker if nothing else. On the sidelines, Nyko was treating injuries and caught her eye, but she looked away. She could work through this. Time was closing in and would wait for nothing.

The last couple of weeks of hard work, however, did have benefits. River had been watching everyone around her growing more and more fit by the day. Not in an attraction way of course, her heart was for Abraham, but she worried less about a sporadic attack as she watched everyone working longer and harder with their tools. She's noticed that Kane's arms and chest were both looking stronger, though his eyes still found themselves wet at night, waiting for Abby, though she never came.

"Water break?" Octavia wheezed a few minutes later, her voice hoarse with effort and thick with dirt that they had all inhaled.

Digging his shovel into the ground with a huff, Kane nodded. "Water break." He confirmed. "River, come on. We should see if anyone wants any fish."

With a sigh as she finished her small area, River nodded. She knew what it would do to her if she didn't stop working. These past few days, she just found herself so drawn into her work that she couldn't help but hack away until her hands were raw and her throat was desert dry. She wouldn't be dumb enough to pass out from dehydration again, that was for sure.

There were no assigned shifts for anyone, everyone was simply working with the knowledge that they needed to get things done before the Death Wave came for them all. So, with that in mind, everyone was free to breaks as and when they pleased.

Once up and out of the pit, the three of them drank deeply from the water station that had been set up. For hours in the morning, water was boiled, then it was cooled and served to thirsty workers. This had been an idea from one of the elderly Trikru women. She had clearly feared that she would be denied access to safety if she hadn't come up with something to make her valuable. No one was denied access, all were welcome, but people proving their worth was always helpful.

"Inau, how are you?" River greeted Inau, the elderly water woman with a fond smile.

Inau had once been a fierce warrior, but unlike others, she knew when to stop. She had hung up her bow and quiver years ago and had become a more maternal member of her clan. She was respected by all, yet she had still expected to be turned away because of her age. River had enormous respect for the woman who spent her day keeping everyone hydrated and she often found herself seeing her grandmother, Eviana Nivalis, in Inau's sweet, brown eyes.

Smiling fondly, Inau reached up and pinched River's cheek. "Today you work hard. Drink." Inau's English wasn't the best, but River enjoyed their conversations all the same. It reminded her that there hadn't always been a war with the Mountain and that Inau probably hadn't learned River's native tongue until she was at least in her fifties, though she didn't pretend to know how old the woman was now.

River and Inau spoke for a short while, both glad for the calm company. That was, however, until hooves were heard and River realised "Abraham's back.". She left Inau with a gentle hug and a wide smile on both their faces, racing to the gap in the woods just in time for Abraham's huge steed to burst through the foliage, the very image of power and strangely beautiful. The huge man was quick to dismount, taking the saddle and bridle from his horse in two easy motions, letting the beast roam as it wished before he turned and caught sight of River.

It was no secret to anyone that they were together, and no one seemed to have any less respect for either of them because of it.

Secure in knowing that, Abraham strode forward and dropped his saddle in front of Octavia who had a somewhat excited grin on her face, striding forward and taking River into his arms. He drew her close and curled his enormous frame down and over her, pressing her face into her hair as she clung to his back. They stayed together like that for a long moment before they pulled away, shared just a single peck, then simply smiled at one another like the lovesick fools they were.

"So, good news?" She asked, her tone hopeful.

Sighing, Abraham knew that she could already see the answer in his eyes as he nodded. " _Sha_ , good news." He replied. "Our scouts in Arkadia say that Jaha has been talking about a bunker; the man believes that there is room enough for all of Skaikru-"

"Meaning the Ark will be left for us."

Smiling, Abraham nodded. "There is not enough time for us to sink it into the earth, but there will be time enough for us to take what we need from it ."

After relaying everything to Bellamy, Indra, Raven, Octavia, Kane and Nyko, they were set about spreading the word while River and Abraham snuck off for some much-needed alone time.

Together, the ventured over the very same cliff that River had leapt from when Bellamy had shot her all those months ago, leading Abraham down the the caves that went deep under her lake. Raven had initially been worried that they would dig their way through and suddenly fall, but Kane had told her that they didn't have the machines nor the manpower to dig through rock like that. Granted, the Station may fall through upon the havoc of the Death Wave, but it wouldn't matter so long as they were all inside.

Once in the cave, both River and Abraham wasted little time in undressing one another in the safety of the shallow water, though it wasn't of sexual motive. In fact, they took a remarkable amount of time in simply being close to one another, washing one another and lying beside one another with a small fire to keep them warm. Then came the sex. After all, how could it not?

It left them both panting and sweaty, Abraham's previously clean back and legs now filthy from the mixture of sweat from his body and dust from the floor, the same with River's hands, knees, forehead and the fronts of her shins. And so once again, they bathed, laughing together and sharing as many kisses as they could before deciding that it was time to return once more.

As much as they both wanted to, they couldn't simply stay down there in their little cave. They had work to do and couldn't expect everyone else to do it for them, though the truth was that everyone was so grateful to them that they would have done.

"You, uh, you guys have fun?" Octavia asked pointedly when the couple returned.

Chuckling, Abraham gave River's backside a light smack and simply walked away, leaving her to talk to Octavia. "You and Kane still on a break?" She asked instead of replying. "Damn lazy assholes." She teased, punching the other girl's shoulder with a smirk. "And yeah, we had a bunch of fun. You jealous?"

"Ha! You wish!" Octavia snarked, because they both knew that despite her not being over Lincoln, she had been warming up to the opposite sex again since they'd all been working together in such close quarters doing manual labour. River gave it another two weeks before the brunette ended up having sex with some guy in the woods.

Later that day, as evening bled into the night, River and Abraham lay together, curled up. There was little privacy on the Station these days, especially since so many others were sleeping in River's closet, but in their little hidy-hole in the wall, they could at least pretend to be alone.

When everyone else had fallen asleep, the ladder drawn up and the door swung shut, River lay on Abraham, using him as a bed since he was so keen to lie flat on his back, using his chest as a pillow. They whispered quietly to one another, discussing the possibility of a bunker. It was, after all, big news.

"River." Abraham's voice had changed, something in it deepening.

Whatever he had to say, River could tell that it was important. "Hm?" She hummed, picking her head up and then laying it back on him, her chin in her hands.

With his jaw set firmly, River was reminded of something. A feeling. It reminded her of being on the boat, but not the bad part. No. It was when she'd felt safe. She'd heard a voice, talking to her so very softly, telling her about something, a young boy, was it? Had that boy been Abraham? Had he lay there with her that whole time after she almost drowned?

"I love you."

And there she was, back in his embrace with the rocking of the waves, keeping them safe and warm, together. Nothing mattered but him. Or maybe her. In fact, both of them.

"Abraham, I love you, too." River knew in that moment that she, the sole survivor, would do anything to keep Abraham, the Commander's assassin, alive and well, even if it meant laying down her own life.

* * *

 **Not the best chapter but small and sweet, so hopefully okay. Please please please review! I hope you enjoyed!**


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